Jimmy Butler Suffers Concerning Injury During Warriors vs. Heat Game

The Golden State Warriors and star forward Jimmy Butler are at home this evening taking on the Miami Heat. Of course, this was another chance for Butler to get revenge on his former team. Unfortunately, in the third quarter, Butler went down with what looked like a concerning injury. While there is no firm update about Butler’s injury at this point in time, the video did not look good. He appeared to suffered a leg injury after catching a pass and looking to score in the paint. Here is a video of the play that shows the injury take place. More information is sure to become available in the near future, but the injury is a major cause for concern for a team that badly needs Butler in order to be a contender in the Western Conference. Losing Jimmy Butler Would Be Disastrous for the Golden State Warriors So far this season, the Warriors simply have not played up to their expectations. Heading into tonight’s game against the Heat, Golden State held a 24-19 record. It appears likely that the Warriors will be able to pull out a win even after seeing Butler go down, but they certainly have not looked like a clear-cut NBA Finals contender yet. Butler has played well for Golden State in his first full year with the team. His leadership has also played a crucial role for the team. In the 37 games he played prior to tonight’s game against Miami, Butler had averaged 20.1 points per game to go along with 5.6 rebounds, 4.9 assists, and 1.4 steals. He also has shot 51.9 percent from the floor overall and has knocked down 38.1 percent of his three-point attempts. Losing Butler’s offensive game, elite defense, and leadership would be a brutal blow for the Warriors’ chances of making a run this season. What’s Coming Next for Golden State? Looking ahead at the schedule, Golden State has a tough stretch of games. The Warriors will take on the Toronto Raptors at home before heading on the road to play the Dallas Mavericks, Minnesota Timberwolves twice, and Utah Jazz. After that stretch, they will return home to play against the Detroit Pistons. Having to navigate that stretch without Butler will be much more difficult. At the end of the day, Golden State will need players to step up if Butler is forced to miss time. Hopefully, good news comes out for the Warriors after the game, but players need to be ready. One of those players could be Jonathan Kuminga, who has requested a trade from the team. Perhaps this will be an opportunity for him to get his career back on track. It’s also possible that Golden State could increase its efforts to trade Kuminga to bring in a player to help replace Butler if need be. Obviously, the hope is that the injury is not serious and that he won’t miss much time. However, Butler is an integral part of the Warriors’ success and they’ll need to move quickly if the outcome isn’t favorable.