Dub Hub: Warriors have to ‘rethink everything’ if Jimmy Butler misses Game 3

Rounding up all Warriors and NBA related news for Friday, April 25th.

In today’s Dub Hub:

• Steve Kerr says the Warriors have to “rethink everything” if Jimmy Butler’s injury forces him to miss Game 3 on Saturday.
• Draymond Green finishes in third place for NBA’s Defensive Player of the Year award.
• Thunder go up 3-0 against Grizzlies after 26-point comeback victory on Thursday night.

The Golden State Warriors lost Game 2 against the Houston Rockets on Wednesday night, but even more pressing is the status of their star wing Jimmy Butler. After leaving the game early following a hard fall in the first quarter, an MRI the following day revealed Butler has a deep glute muscle contusion and is officially listed as questionable for Saturday’s Game 3.

Butler’s departure clearly had an effect on the team and shifted the tone of the game as Golden State struggled to recover without his presence on both ends of the floor. During his postgame press conference, Warriors head coach Steve Kerr was blunt about the impact of Butler’s absence.

One of the solutions may include re-inserting Jonathan Kuminga into the rotation. He had success against Houston during the regular season, including one game where he posted a then career-high 33 points in a 99-93 win back in December. Following Butler’s injury on Wednesday, he played 26 minutes (third-most on the team) and scored 11 points on 4-of-12 shooting from the field, including two three-pointers.

While Kuminga still has some rust to shake off after recently falling out of the rotation, Steph Curry made it clear postgame that he’ll needs to stay locked in as the team may be leaning on him more heavily again — especially if Butler can’t go in Game 3.

For more on this and other news around the NBA, here is our latest news round-up for Friday, April 25th:

Warriors News:

Sources: Warriors’ Butler in jeopardy for Game 3 with contusion | ESPN

Jimmy Butler underwent an MRI that revealed no structural damage, but the Golden State Warriors star is in serious jeopardy of missing Game 3 with a deep glute muscle contusion, league sources told ESPN’s Shams Charania.

The Warriors and Butler have two days off before hosting the Houston Rockets on Saturday at Chase Center with the first-round series tied at 1-1. Considering that the MRI showed no fracture after Butler took a scary fall in the first quarter of Game 2 on Wednesday night, the Warriors got a best-case scenario result, sources told Charania.

Butler will use the time before the 5:30 p.m. PST tipoff to do everything he can to play. His return likely will be determined by how his body responds to treatment in the next two days.

Draymond Green comes in third place for Defensive Player of the Year

Rockets even series by bruising Steph Curry and Warriors: ‘That’s who we are’ | The Athletic

This series is only two games in, but it’s clear that physicality — and the level both teams bring to the table — could determine the outcome of this series, Butler’s health an obvious aside. Through Games 1 and 2, the Rockets are a plus-30 in the rebounding battle and a plus-38 in points in the paint. For all the snarl and swagger players like Draymond Green possess, it’s hard to duplicate what Houston has. On numerous occasions in Game 2, Curry, Draymond Green and Warriors coach Steve Kerr sought the officials’ attention to alert them of the Rockets’ physical play. And even though Houston had to navigate through early foul trouble — Thompson’s three fouls in the first quarter kept him glued to the bench, and Brooks and Alperen Şengün finished with four apiece — a clear message was sent to Curry and the Warriors.

VanVleet had eerie five-word message for Draymond in heated exchange | NBC Sports Bay Area

The San Francisco Standard’s Tim Kawakami shared on the latest episode of the “Warriors Plus/Minus” podcast what he heard VanVleet told Green in the viral exchange.

“I did hear that the VanVleet-Draymond thing was VanVleet telling Draymond, ‘You better pray Jimmy [Butler’s] back.’ There were a lot of other words in there,” Kawakami said.

A dream target for the Suns … and more around-the-league NBA notes | The Stein Line

The Suns’ obstacles, though, are more than financial. Word is that Myers greatly enjoys his lucrative consulting role with the NFL’s Washington Commanders (who happen to be owned by the 76ers’ Josh Harris) on top of his TV work with ESPN.

Those jobs afford him much more family time than coming back to front-officing would. Plus a lot less stress.

NBA News:

Thunder put Grizzlies on brink with 26-point rally in Game 3 | ESPN

It was the second-largest comeback win at any point in a playoff game since at least 1997-98, trailing only the LA Clippers’ 31-point rally against the Golden State Warriors in a 2019 first-round game, according to ESPN Research. Thunder superstar Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who finished with 31 points, was a rookie on that Clippers team.

“I completely forgot about that [game], so it didn’t cross my mind, but that is crazy,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “If they could build it, we could erase it. That’s how we see it. That’s what we did.”

Cavaliers’ Evan Mobley named 2024-25 Kia NBA Defensive Player of the Year | NBA

In the 2024-25 regular season, Mobley ranked sixth in the NBA in blocked shots per game (1.59) and 13th in defensive rebounds per game (7.0). He contested 10.4 shots per game, the third most among players who played in at least 70% of their team’s games (58 of 82).

Opponents shot 44.5% from the field when Mobley was the closest defender, 3.2% lower than their expected percentage on those shots (47.7%). That difference was the fourth largest among the 30 players who defended at least 1,000 shots for the season.

Grizzlies’ Ja Morant exits game after hard fall in loss to Thunder

In case you missed it at Golden State of Mind:

How the Rockets moved the Warriors around in Game 2 in manners both figurative and literal

Jalen’s successful offensive night was as much a product of his own shotmaking as it was making the Warriors’ defense respond to the threat of his scoring — in that regard, it also created opportunities for his teammates. The Rockets were more intentional with picking at pressure points, weak spots they could single out within the Warriors’ defense. For all of the positive reps Quinten Post flashed on offense, it did not escape my notice that the Rockets singled him out once he was deployed on the floor.

A tweet to end the week:

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