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The Golden State Warriors are 10-2 since acquiring Jimmy Butler from the Miami Heat on Feb. 7, tied for the Western Conference’s best record in that stretch. And according to one NBA scout, everyone is looking to avoid the red-hot Dubs in the first round of the NBA playoffs.
“No one will want to play them in the playoffs,” the scout told ESPN’s Tim Bontemps. “Jimmy with fresh legs and motivation … honeymoon-phase Jimmy is a motherf—er.”
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In 11 games with Golden State, Butler is averaging 17.1 points, 5.0 rebounds and 5.4 assists per game on 45.1% shooting from the field. Steve Kerr has credited Butler — whom he reportedly initially had reservations about bringing to the Bay Area — with turning the Warriors into a two-way team.
“The last 10 games, I think we’re second in both offense and defense,” Kerr said during a recent media session. “Obviously a small sample size, but that’s when we got Jimmy. So, things have clearly turned with him. He’s a great complement to what we already do. … What he’s adding is that maturity and poise.”
In Thursday’s come-from-behind 121-119 win over the Brooklyn Nets in New York, Butler turned in his best game with the Dubs to date. He finished with 25 points, six assists and three steals, complementing a monster 40-point performance from co-star Steph Curry that helped the Warriors climb out of a 22-point deficit against the Nets, who lost their sixth straight.
“People way too quickly forgot what Jimmy Butler can do,” the scout told Bontemps. “He’s not a franchise player in that he doesn’t do it in the regular season, but when it comes to the playoffs, he’s a franchise player. He’s a superstar when you need to be winning.”
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Playoff Jimmy is one of the best in the NBA. He notched eight 40-point playoff performances with the Heat in 5.5 seasons, including a 56-point exclamation point against the Bucks in 2023 on the way to an unexpected NBA Finals appearance. To the scout’s point, he never once scored 40 in 316 regular-season games for Miami.
The recent spurt from the Dubs has pushed Golden State into sixth in the Western Conference — one spot removed from the dreaded play-in. If the season were to end today, they’d face the Denver Nuggets, the same team that ended Butler’s fairy-tale Finals run in 2023.
