Jimmy Butler made his much-awaited debut for the Golden State Warriors in their stunning 132-111 win over the Chicago Bulls at the United Center on Saturday. Butler impressed in the comeback win and head coach Steve Kerr sang the star forward’s praises in his postgame press conference.
“Pretty fun having Jimmy on our team,” Kerr said. “Yeah, he’s an amazing player. The ability to get fouled, it just settles the game for us at key times but I’m most impressed with his passing. I just think his passing changes everything, connects the game, and he does it from anywhere.
“He’ll dive down to the post, catch it down there or he’ll pass off a dribble or he’ll just make the quick swing,” Kerr continued. “The skill, strength, and the ability to get to the free throw line and then, in the end, goes beyond that. It’s his presence out there. He’s a lion out there. He is a force.”
Butler had 25 points (7-12 FG), two rebounds, four assists, one steal, and one block against the Bulls. The 35-year-old got off to a bit of a slow start, though, and for quite some time, it looked like he was going to taste defeat on debut.
Butler had just eight points at halftime and the Warriors were down 69-55 at the break. The Bulls took their largest lead of the night (24 points) when they went up 83-59 with 8:30 left in the third quarter and seemed destined to win. What followed, though, was a collapse of epic proportions.
The Warriors went on a ridiculous 67-18 run to go up 126-101 in the fourth quarter. Stephen Curry was the catalyst behind that turnaround with 24 points in the third quarter and he set the stage for Butler to shine in the fourth.
Butler scored the first seven points in the final period to get the Warriors their first double-digit lead of the night. The six-time All-Star scored 10 points within the first five minutes of the quarter to ensure his former team was put away for good.
Butler’s playmaking is going to greatly help the Warriors but his ability to get to the line is what they needed the most. They average 20.5 free throws attempted per game this season, which ranks 27th in the league. Butler went 11-13 from the line against the Bulls and it was the second-most free throws attempted on debut by a Warrior behind Wilt Chamberlain’s 15 attempts.
The Warriors snapped a two-game losing streak with this win and improved to 26-26 on the season. You still wouldn’t call them a serious title contender, but Butler’s presence certainly helped Curry, who had 34 points (10-19 FG), four rebounds, six assists, and a block.
Teams can no longer just key in on Curry when Butler is on the court and it will be interesting to see if the two-time MVP produces at this level moving forward. He was only averaging 22.1 points per game this season before Butler showed up and here’s hoping we see the best of him from now.
Curry and Butler will be in action next when the Warriors take on the Milwaukee Bucks at Fiserv Forum on Monday at 8 PM ET.
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