Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr issued an encouraging statement about Jimmy Butler‘s status for the pivotal Game 3 of their first-round series against the Houston Rockets.
“Jimmy is Jimmy, he’s willing to play through anything,” Kerr said, per Danny Emerman of The San Francisco Standard.
Kerr’s statement came after the Warriors officially listed Butler as questionable for Game 3 following his hard fall in Game 2.
Butler’s MRI came back negative for fracture or structural damage, ESPN’s Shams Charania reported on Thursday. Though this was the best-case scenario, Charania also added that Butler’s status for Game 3 is in serious jeopardy because he was diagnosed with a deep glute muscle contusion.
Kerr said Butler’s status is day-to-day.
“I think there’s a chance he plays,” Kerr said, per ESPN’s Ohm Youngmisuk.
Doctor Shares Steve Kerr’s Optimism on Jimmy Butler
Kerr’s optimism is shared by Dr. Nirav Pandya, a professor at the Orthopedic Surgery department of the University of California, San Francisco and director of sports medicine at Benioff Children’s Hospital.
Dr. Pandya said Butler’s injury typically costs a player to sit out an average of one game. But in Butler’s case, it’s different.
“Now a lot of that data is from the regular season, where there may not necessarily be that big push to have to come back early,” Dr. Pandya said on a video breakdown of Butler’s injury he posted on X. “Obviously, if this happens at playoffs, and pain management can be basically achieved with Jimmy Butler, there could be a chance he could potentially be back for Game 3 or Game 4, based on how his body responds.
“But overall, this appears to be good news for Jimmy Butler in the absence of being fracture or higher up injury in a spine because largely it just becomes a pain management issue, and there is a possibility that if he gets that pain management under control, that we could see him back very shortly for the Golden State Warriors.”
Stephen Curry previously missed two games, while Jonathan Kuminga also missed one game with the same injury late in the regular season.
Jonathan Kuminga Frustrated With Lack of Playing Time
If Butler plays in Game 3, Kuminga will return to the end of the bench.
The 22-year-old forward looked rusty in his first game back after he had three straight DNP-CD (did not play-coach’s decision).
Kuminga shot 4-for-12 from the field for 11 points. The young forward did not help his cause with his shooting struggles. Worse, he was minus-3 in 26 minutes of court time.
Kuminga expressed his frustration over his lack of playing time.
“I work out every day. I played with some of the guys here the other day and I just try to have a good spirit every single day. The more my spirit is where I want, that’s how I stay ready,” Kuminga said, per Clutchpoints, after he made his series debut against the Rockets. “It is tough, for any player it’s going to be tough, but what am I going to do about it. At the end of the day, what are you going to do about it?
“It’s like I say, you just got to stay ready. Whenever your moment happens, it’s going to happen. But for me it’s kind of… like tough. There’s really nothing I can do about it. You know, can’t complain about it, can’t do anything about it. If I don’t play, it’s the coach’s decision.”
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Warriors’ Steve Kerr Issues Latest Jimmy Butler Update After MRI Results