Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green steered clear of the conversation on how Houston Rockets guard Amen Thompson collided with Jimmy Butler, which caused his awkward landing on his back.
“I was trying to box out Thompson, and somehow he ended up under Jimmy’s legs,” Green told reporters after the Warriors’ Game 2 loss. “I don’t know, I didn’t see it.”
Rick Kamla, a former NBA TV host, initially accused Green of “taking out” Butler.
I guess Butler was stealing too much of the spotlight. 🤣
But video replays showed Green was indeed trying to box out Thompson and did not push him toward Butler, which he was wrongly accused of.
Kamla later corrected himself after watching the video replay.
“Good point. I stand corrected. Amen played some football with Butler,” Kamla wrote on X in a reply to a fan, who posted the video replay of the accident that led to Butler’s injury.
Rockets Take Advantage of Jimmy Butler’s Absence
But the damage to the Warriors has been done as they never recovered from Butler’s early exit.
The Warriors were down eight when Butler left at the 1:51 mark of the first quarter. Without Butler, the Rockets led by Jalen Green, who exploded for 38 points, feasted on the Warriors’ suddenly vulnerable perimeter defense.
Golden State fell behind by as many as 20 points in the second quarter and in the fourth quarter. Though the Warriors made a late push, cutting the Rockets’ lead to 11, Green’s step-back 3-pointer sparked an 8-0 run to seal the win.
“It was significant,” Green said of Butler’s loss to injury. “Anytime you lose one of your best players, one of your top dogs, it’s tough to overcome, but I thought we did a good job fighting, giving ourselves a chance. We just couldn’t get over the hump.”
Though Butler’s X-ray result came back negative, they are still waiting for the MRI result to be certain there is no structural damage and it was just a contusion.
Waiting Game
Stephen Curry missed two games for pelvic contusion late in the regular season. The Warriors hope Butler can return soon.
But if not, they have to adjust without their top two-way player.
“We’ll have to figure that out,” Green said in case Butler misses time. “It’s no easy task to replace Jimmy. Obviously, we all know what he’s meant to this team since he’s been here, and we’ve kind of tailored our offense a bit around him. So, that will have to change a bit, but we’ll see, he’s tough. We’ve got a couple of days off. So, we’ll take it day by day and see where we get.”
But compared to Curry, Butler appears to be stronger and conditioned to withstand such injury.
“Jimmy always says he’s going to be fine, but we have to wait to see the MRI [result],” Golden State coach Steve Kerr told reporters after the Game 2 loss.
“He’s given me zero reasons not to believe anything he says, so I do believe him,” Green said of Butler.
The Warriors hope the two-day rest in between Games 2 and 3 will be enough for Butler to recover.
Warriors’ Draymond Green Responds to Accusations He Took Out Jimmy Butler