
Warriors Face Challenges Against Rockets Amid Butler's Injury
The Warriors struggle against a determined Rockets team, especially with Jimmy Butler's injury looming over their playoff chances.
You know it’s been a bad night when you get blown out in an NBA playoff game and it’s probably not even your biggest loss of the night. This the situation in which the Golden State Warriors find themselves, having dropped Game 2 to the Houston Rockets, 109-94, on Wednesday and facing the possibility of having to move forward in this series without Jimmy Butler, who suffered a pelvic contusion after a hard fall in the first quarter.
Jimmy Butler hit the ground hard after being undercut by Amen Thompson 😳 pic.twitter.com/Icd2wBF50U — Warriors on NBCS (@NBCSWarriors) April 24, 2025
There was some talk that Houston’s Amen Thompson undercut Butler in a dirty manner, but it was pretty clear that wasn’t the case. Warriors coach Steve Kerr said as much after the game.
“I asked our guys behind the bench and they just said it looked like there was some physicality on the rebound and I think Thompson just inadvertently found himself underneath Jimmy just based on the tug-o-war that was going on there,” Kerr said. “We didn’t think there was anything wrong with the play. Just one of those things.”
Butler is scheduled for an MRI, and obviously the Warriors are crossing their fingers that he’s able to play in Game 3 on Saturday back in San Francisco. If he isn’t able to, they’re in serious trouble. Actually, they’re in serious trouble either way.
Indeed, the Warriors are not feeling anywhere near as good as a lower-seeded team that earned a split in the first two road games of a series usually would.