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HOUSTON (AP) — Golden State’s Jimmy Butler suffered a contusion to his pelvis after taking a hard fall due to a foul by Amen Thompson late in the first quarter, resulting in Butler missing the remainder of the Warriors’ 109-94 defeat to the Houston Rockets on Wednesday night.
Coach Steve Kerr expressed uncertainty regarding Butler’s availability for Game 3 on Saturday and mentioned that an MRI is scheduled for Thursday.
“Jimmy always claims he’ll be okay,” Kerr noted. “But we will need to wait for the results from the MRI.”
Butler’s injury occurred when Thompson collided with his legs as he leapt for a rebound, causing both players to hit the floor, with Butler staying down longer than Thompson.
Despite the incident, Butler managed to rise and limped to the other end of the court to attempt free throws, converting 1 of 2 before being pulled from the game and heading straight to the locker room.
Kerr does not believe Thompson acted with malice during the play.
“We didn’t see anything wrong with what happened,” Kerr stated. “It was just one of those basketball plays.”
Prior to his injury, Butler had recorded three points and two rebounds, while he had a stellar performance of 25 points, seven rebounds, and six assists in Golden State’s 95-85 victory in Game 1.
Kerr emphasized that it is too early to speculate on the Warriors’ strategy if Butler is unable to play on Saturday.
“We’re hopeful that Jimmy will be able to participate, but if he can’t, we’ll need to explore our options and devise a plan,” he said.
Additionally, Golden State’s Brandin Podziemski, who had missed a significant portion of the first half due to a stomach issue, returned to the game in the third quarter. Before the match, Kerr mentioned that Podziemski was dealing with digestive troubles stemming from something he ate and confirmed that he received an IV during halftime.
