SAN FRANCISCO — The Warriors’ season flashed before their eyes as Jimmy Butler hung there in midair, parallel to the hardwood below him.
Already without Stephen Curry, the Warriors weren’t built to withstand injuries to their pair of $50 million players. So then, it’s a good thing Butler had been there before, his legs out from under him and the only thing between his body and a crash landing being the air beneath the Chase Center basket.
With a thud, Butler’s 6-foot-6 frame hit the floor.
A short while later, in the postgame locker room following a 104-96 win over the New Orleans Pelicans, the only lasting effect of the potentially catastrophic play was the constant cackle from Draymond Green, endlessly entertained by Butler’s account of the fall — and what padded his landing.
“Straight ass, that’s what it was,” Butler said when asked which part of him took the brunt of the impact, slapping his rear end. “Got a lot of cushion back there.”
The play was reminiscent of the one that bruised Butler’s lower back last April and forced him to miss Game 3 of their playoff series against Rockets. In both instances, he has avoided trying to use his arms to cushion the blow, which he said he learned through experience is a recipe for broken bones. (Butler had surgery on his right hand in 2018 and missed time the following season with a sprained right wrist.)
Butler winced and was slow to get up, but he returned to the game as soon as play resumed. During the timeout, Steve Kerr asked Butler where he hurt from the fall, to which the coach said he responded: “Everything.” Butler confirmed as much afterward: “I am. I was,” he said. But, he added, “I’ll be fine.”
Trainer Drew Yoder initially inspected Butler’s left arm, and if he had landed wrong, the Warriors could have been without their No. 2 option for an extended period. It was hard enough Saturday, against the Western Conference’s lowliest team, in their first game of what is expected to be at least a week without Curry.
Golden State missed 20 of its first 22 shots from 3 and entered the locker room with its lowest first-half scoring total of the season — 42 points (albeit still leading by four). The Warriors trailed by as many as 10 and were down 88-87 as late as the 4:02 mark of the fourth quarter.
They scored the next 12 points and closed the game on a 17-8 run, matching their total from the first quarter. At the center of it was Butler, who assisted on two of the baskets, scored another and sank three free throws on his way to a team-best 24 points, 10 assists and eight rebounds.
“He was incredible the way he took over the game,” Kerr said.
“We got stops … and then we just got the ball to Jimmy,” Green added. “We got the ball to Jimmy and he surveyed and made all the right plays.”
It took the Warriors nearly all of the 48 minutes against the Pelicans to find an offensive formula that worked without Curry. They entered the night dead last in offensive efficiency without his gravity on the court — opposed to sixth with Curry on the floor. But with Curry expected to miss, at a minimum, the Warriors’ upcoming game Tuesday against the 19-1 Oklahoma City Thunder, before his left quad strain is re-evaluated, it was imperative to find a way to score without him.
Without Butler, it would have been an impossible task.
With him, it still didn’t come naturally.
“Jimmy doesn’t necessarily want to shoot the ball,” Kerr said. “He really prefers just making the right basketball play. He’s very principled in his approach to basketball. He wants everybody to play the right way. He wants to make the right pass. But there are times, and tonight was one of them, where we just need him to take over and attack. He did that. We just ran everything through him, and he delivered. That’s to be expected. He’s a superstar for a reason.”
In the huddle, Green said Warriors players sent the same message to Butler.
“He just kept telling us, ‘They’re loading up, so you’ve got to create some other movement,’” Green said. “Once everybody else started moving around him, then it opened gaps and he was able to do what he did. When Steph’s not out there, we definitely need him to be more aggressive, and he was.”
All the more as the most dynamic scorer on the floor without Curry, Butler will almost always draw the defense’s attention, meaning the open shot isn’t necessarily his. He found a frequent outlet late in Gary Payton II, whose smart cuts from the dunker spot resulted in 19 points (with a team-best 11 boards), but Butler’s tendency to drive and dish wasn’t particularly effective when his teammates barely made 40% of their shots from the field — on a 25.5% clip from deep.
“Sometimes,” Butler said he understands the need to be more assertive in Curry’s absence. “But I’m still gonna play basketball the right way. If you’re open, I’m gonna pass you the ball. I don’t care what anybody says — that’s the basketball play.”
Butler is paid like a superstar — $54.1 million this season. He dresses like one — three diamond-studded hoops piercing his left ear lobe and a bright-orange McClaren racing tank top hanging over designer denim. He acts like one — chided by Buddy Hield for keeping the media waiting for more than an hour after the game.
But there is a reason why he so adroitly adopted the role of Robin to Curry’s Batman when he arrived last season — a comparison he coined himself.
Butler is steadfast in his basketball philosophy, whether the ball is in his hands or not.
“If you’re open, shoot it; if not, pass it,” Butler said. “I think that’s the formula for everyone around here. To be successful, keep the game easy. Especially when 30’s not out there, you’ve gotta play damn near perfect. Like I always say, if you’re open shoot it; if not, the easiest play is to pass it.”