Dub Hub: Jimmy Butler confident Warriors can ‘hold down the fort’ in Steph Curry’s absence

Rounding up all Warriors and NBA related news for Thursday, May 8th.

In today’s Dub Hub:

• Jimmy Butler is confident the Warriors can “hold down the fort” as Steph Curry recovers from a hamstring strain.
• Steph Curry to miss at least one week due to strained left hamstring suffered in Game 1 against the Timberwolves.
• Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scores 34 points against the Nuggets, leading the Thunder to a historic 149-106 blowout victory in Game 2.

The Golden State Warriors opened their second-round series with a 99-88 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves, but the celebration was cut short by the loss of Stephen Curry, who exited early in the second quarter of Game 1 with a hamstring injury.

Curry scored 13 points in just 13 minutes in Game 1. However, he is now expected to miss at least a week after an MRI on Wednesday revealed he suffered a Grade 1 left hamstring strain.

In the aftermath of Tuesday night’s win, Warriors star Jimmy Butler acknowledged the tough road ahead, while offering a message of support for his sidelined teammate.

With Curry out, it will truly take a “Strength in Numbers” approach to win this series. Fortunately, head coach Steve Kerr believes his team’s defense—which has been among the league’s best—can carry the load while Curry is on the mend.

For more on this and other news around the NBA, here is our latest news round-up for Thursday, May 8th:

Warriors News:

Steph Curry’s hamstring injury gives the Warriors another mission: Buy him time | The Athletic

“It’s super motivating,” Kevon Looney said. “He’s carried a lot of us on his back to the highest level. He set a high standard, and you just want to kind of follow that. He knows we got his back. However long it’s gonna be, we’re gonna go out there and fight and try to win.

“We ain’t gon’ put our heads down. We know how to fight. We know how to be the men at war.”

Steph Curry will miss at least one week due to strained left hamstring

How Warriors’ playoff schedule could benefit Steph’s injury timeline | NBC Sports Bay Area

With Curry ruled out for Games 2, 3 and 4 against the Timberwolves, Golden State will provide another update next Wednesday, when Game 5 is set to take place in Minnesota. If he is ruled out of Game 5, there might not be a reason for Warriors fans to panic just yet.

As is the case with all other playoff games occurring around the league, Games 1 through 5 between the Warriors and Timberwolves will be played every other day. But Game 6, due to the Bay’s new WNBA team, the Golden State Valkyries, opening their regular season Friday, May 16, at Chase Center, the Warriors wouldn’t play the if-necessary Game 6 until Sunday, May 18.

That would give Curry 11 full days off to rest before potentially returning in Game 6 in San Francisco.

Warriors, Timberwolves go back and forth litigating Game 1 non-calls | NBC Sports Bay Area

“On defensive rebounds, they do a lot of fouling, holding, shoving, pushing and tackling Rudy,” Finch said of the Warriors’ physicality. “That’s clear. We’ll send a bunch of those clips into the league.

“In fact, I’m not sure I know another player in the league with Rudy’s pedigree that is allowed to be physically beaten on the way he is. And so we’ve got to address that one way or another.”

Jimmy Butler & Buddy Hield HILARIOUS Press Conference | Golden State Warriors

NBA News:

NBA playoffs 2025: How the Celtics and Cavs salvage the East semis | ESPN

Defying the typical bounce-back, the poor outside shooting carried over to Game 2. Boston took far fewer 3s (40 out of 94 shots, as compared to 60 of 97 in Game 1) but again made them at a 25% clip. The Celtics are just the second team in the past six years to shoot 25% or worse in the first two games of a playoff series, joining the 2021 Atlanta Hawks in their East finals loss to the Bucks.

Have these NBA playoffs really been more physical? The numbers may surprise you | The Athletic

Here’s the thing: I can’t really find anything in the numbers to suggest that these playoffs have been any more physical than the last two. Fouls and free throws have both increased from the regular season. Those alone are a bad indicator, as they can be skewed by late-game take fouls (hello, Thunder fans) and hack-a strategies (take a bow, Mitchell Robinson and Steven Adams), both of which are historically more common in the playoffs.

However, the big picture isn’t that different. This postseason doesn’t seem unusual. If anything, it’s the last three postseasons that are the outlier, compared to everything else that came before it. These last three playoffs have featured much worse 2-point shooting and much lower true shooting percentages compared to the regular season of the same year and stable 3-point rates. That’s in stark contrast to the ones before them, which featured more whistles, more 3-point attempts and no decline in offensive efficiency from the regular season.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scores 34 points in historic blowout win over the Nuggets in Game 2

In case you missed it at Golden State of Mind:

Warriors’ sharp defense gets them a Game 1 win — but without Steph Curry, will it be sustainable?

As much as Edwards has improved as a passer and general “read maker,” it feels as if the best course of action when it comes to defending his drives is to force him to pass the ball instead of getting a shot up at the rim. Early on in Game 1, that was what the Warriors tried to do. Making Edwards spray the ball to the perimeter means he’s not scoring — but it also entails a high level of awareness and execution when it comes to rotating toward the pass, the next pass, and all the passes and drives that come after it.

Follow @unstoppablebaby on Twitter for all the latest news on the Golden State Warriors.