Unfortunately, the Warriors may have to play Saturday night’s game against the Philadelphia 76ers without Butler. The star wing popped up on the injury report on Friday with back spasms and is listed as questionable just 24 hours before tip.
The Warriors are 7-1 with Butler in the lineup, and he has clearly made an impact and helped fix a lot of their biggest weaknesses.
Defensively, Butler gives the Warriors a reliable wing defender who can guard the opposing team’s best player on any given night, especially when he really ratchets up the intensity come playoff time. However, Andrew Wiggins already had that responsibility, so Butler is just filling the gap that he left in the trade.
The offensive end is where Butler’s impact has really been felt. For the last few years of the Stephen Curry era, the Warriors have struggled to put pressure on the rim while also not having the same array of perimeter shooters that they had during their championship years.
As a result, the Golden State offense has been stagnant at times as defenses focus more and more attention on Curry. Butler isn’t an elite outside shooter, but he is one of the best in the NBA at attacking the rim. Butler has attempted 60 free throws in eight games with the Warriors, giving them another way to score points outside of relying on Curry to make shots every night.
Of course, Curry is still capable of some of those nuclear games that he used to have frequently. On Thursday night, Curry dropped 56 points and hit 12 3-pointers in a 121-115 win over the Orlando Magic. The star point guard picked up the slack on a night where Butler only had five points on 1-for-7 shooting in order to keep the winning streak alive.
Even if Butler is unable to go on Saturday, the Warriors will still be a strong favorite to knock off a 76ers team that has been a mess lately. Philadelphia officially shut Joel Embiid down for the rest of the season on Friday and has been reeling for a while as it stares down the reality of missing the playoffs in the Eastern Conference.
