SAN FRANCISCO — In 2023, Jimmy Butler carried the Miami Heat from the play-in round to the NBA Finals.
Two years later, he’s in a similar situation.
“We joked about that, I think last week, that he went into the play-in packing for two months,” Steph Curry said postgame. “We would love to have that opportunity.”
Butler recorded 30 points and nine assists and Steph Curry scored 21 of his 36 points in the fourth quarter and overtime, but the Warriors dropped their season finale, 124-119, to the Clippers.
Los Angeles’ veteran star counterparts, Kawhi Leonard and James Harden, combined for 72 points in a game with 23 lead changes.
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Golden State finished the season with a 48-34 record. The loss sends them to the play-in round for the second straight season. They’ll host the Memphis Grizzlies on Tuesday in the 7-8 game, with the winner facing Houston in the first round. The loser of that game would play the winner of the 9/10 game between the Kings and Mavericks.
The Warriors’ season started at training camp in Hawaii forever ago. There was talk of Kevon Looney shooting 3-pointers (he went 2-for-5 on the year) and implementing elements of new assistant coach Terry Stotts’ offense (they quickly pivoted away from that).
Golden State ripped off a 12-3 start while playing a 12-man rotation, but fell apart after starting guard De’Anthony Melton tore his ACL. A trade for Dennis Schroder didn’t fix things. Andrew Wiggins was a steady two-way player, but he didn’t provide enough top-end scoring to balance the defense-first Warriors out.
The Warriors were 25-26 and hovering on the boundary of the play-in when they swung the Butler trade that saved their season. The six-time All-Star brought a sense of belief to the team in addition to his bruising game that yins Curry’s yang. The Warriors went 23-8 after the Butler trade, going from one of the worst teams at getting to the foul line to one of the very best.
Butler, a habitual playoff-riser, lived up to the billing against the Clippers with the six-seed on the line.
An underrated aspect of Butler’s game is his conditioning and ability to conserve energy within a game. On Sunday afternoon, he played 48 minutes. That cost Jonathan Kuminga a role. The fourth-year forward’s reintegration after his ankle sprain has been rocky, and he wasn’t part of Golden State’s scripted pregame rotation plan, per a team source.
“I’ve got to find the best lineups to create [flow],” Steve Kerr said last Friday. “Now that we are where we are, we’ve got to be very particular in every minute of every game now in terms of who’s out there and how we find that rhythm.”
Butler and the Warriors targeted Bogdan Bogdanovic, beating him off the bounce to generate offense. Moses Moody was tremendous defensively, registering three steals and two blocks in his first 12 minutes while defending James Harden, Kawhi Leonard, and Norman Powell.
The Warriors built an early 12-point lead off their tenacious defense, but the Clippers steadied themselves. Harden found a rhythm in the pick-and-roll with Ivica Zubac, and nobody could stop Leonard.
“He’s great,” Draymond Green said. “Every time I play against him, I improve because it’s such a challenge. He’s one of the guys I enjoy playing in this league the most. Because he’s so good. A lot of people don’t give him the credit he deserves, only when it’s beneficial do they give him credit. But he’s so fucking great. And you have to be dialed in in order to try to guard him.”
Curry, playing with his sprained right thumb wrapped up, came alive in the fourth quarter. On one play, he beat Kris Dunn off the dribble before relocating to the corner for his fifth 3-pointer. As Ty Lue called timeout, Curry flexed in front of uproarious Chase Center fans.
Dunn made Curry work with physical, relentless on-ball defense. But it was nothing Curry hadn’t seen before. He finished 7-for-12 from distance, sore thumb and all.
Curry and Leonard went back and forth like it was the 2019 Finals. But Leonard missed what would have been the game-winning shot over Green, forcing overtime.
Back-to-back Harden threes put the Warriors in an overtime hole. But they answered with Green in the corner and more heroics from Curry.
In his 48th minute, Butler appeared to injure his left leg while getting a stop on Leonard. He stayed in the game, limping around for the final 50 seconds.
The Warriors had a chance to send the game into double overtime, but Buddy Hield — cold after sitting the entire fourth quarter and overtime — missed a catch-and-shoot three off a well-executed inbounds play.
Curry played 38 minutes. Brandin Podziemski logged 43. Green battled for 38 minutes. The Warriors have only a day to recoup from the staggering minutes totals before getting another chance at securing a playoff berth.
“We’ll be fine,” Green said. “Playoffs, you don’t play no back-to-backs, or anything like that. Just got to get there. We’ll be alright. We’re not senior citizens, we’re high-level basketball players. If we had to play tomorrow, we’d be alright. Train all year for this. No disrespect to the senior citizens, by the way. We love our senior citizens.”