The Golden State Warriors booked their ticket to the playoffs with a 121-116 win over the Memphis Grizzlies at Chase Center in the play-in game on Tuesday. After the game, Jimmy Butler was asked what the Warriors are capable of in his press conference, and he is certainly confident about their chances of winning it all.
“I think any team has a chance when I’m on the team,” Butler said. “But I know that every team has a chance if Steph’s on the team. So, I get to play Robin, that’s my Batman… We got all the villains over there, Two-Face and Joker, and Riddler, everybody else in the Western Conference. But we got a lot of games to win.“
While Butler doesn’t mind being Robin, he was Batman for much of the night. The 35-year-old finished with 38 points (12-20 FG), seven rebounds, six assists, and three steals against the Grizzlies.
Butler had 34 points entering the fourth quarter and was carrying the Warriors offensively up to that point. Stephen Curry then took over when it mattered most, scoring 15 points in the final period. He finished with 37 points (9-22 FG), eight rebounds, four assists, and one steal against the Grizzlies.
This was the second game in a row in which both Curry and Butler had scored at least 30 points. Their efforts weren’t enough to get the win over the Los Angeles Clippers on Sunday, but they got the Warriors over the line here.
The Warriors’ reward for beating the Grizzlies is a matchup with the Houston Rockets in the first round of the playoffs. The Rockets won 106-96 when the teams last met, with Curry scoring just three points. Butler is confident, though, that the Warriors can beat the Rockets or whoever else they face in the West and make it to the Finals.
Stephen Curry Never Doubted That Jimmy Butler Would Step Up For The Warriors
While the Warriors were rolling after acquiring Butler from the Miami Heat at the trade deadline, he wasn’t exactly filling up the stat sheet. The six-time All-Star averaged just 17.9 points per game in 2024-25 for his new team, and there were some concerns about whether he’d be able to step up. Curry made it clear postgame, though, that he never doubted Butler.
“There’s been a few games here and there sporadically where he has been a little bit more aggressive looking for a shot,” Curry said. “He’s obviously been getting to the free-throw line… I never doubted that it was coming. It’s just he always has a sense of pride on like playing the right way and whatever the game calls for.”
Butler had stated that he prioritizes making the right play over just being aggressive all the time. It’s why he has been a good fit with the Warriors, but they’ll need him to keep up the level of aggression he showed against the Grizzlies in the playoffs.
Butler, Curry, Draymond Green, and Kevon Looney are really the only ones who have a lot of playoff experience on this team. Looney aside, the three others will have to step up in a big way game after game if this team is to go all the way and win another championship.
