SAN FRANCISCO — The Golden State Warriors are expecting Jimmy Butler to make his return Monday night in Game 4 against the Houston Rockets, league sources told ESPN’s Shams Charania.
Butler participated in a light walkthrough at the team shootaround on Monday morning. The star forward is listed as questionable with a pelvic and deep gluteal muscle contusion injury. But he has been doing everything he can to return, including receiving treatment and working out on the court in the past 24 hours, sources told Charania.
Butler suffered the injury late in the first quarter of Game 2. With Butler limited to only eight minutes, the Warriors lost that game in Houston, 109-94. Without him on Saturday, Stephen Curry had 36 points, nine assists and seven rebounds to lead Golden State to a 104-93 Game 3 win.
“Hopefully he’s back next game,” Curry said of what he learned from his team without Butler on Saturday. “If he’s not, we can still play at a high level and we can win a tough physical playoff game. I think we all know, we’re trying to win 14 more of these. We need Jimmy to do that.
“But if there’s a situation where somebody is not available, next-man-up mentality, it’s got to be a belief and a confidence. Two months ago [before trading for Butler], I don’t know if we had that.”
Golden State is up 2-1 in this best-of-7 series.