Jimmy Butler Injury Update: MRI Planned After Scary Fall vs. Rockets

The Golden State Warriors played the majority of Game 2 against the Houston Rockets without Jimmy Butler, who suffered a pelvic contusion after a hard fall in the first quarter.

Butler collided with Amen Thompson and landed heavily on his tailbone. Despite initially trying to play through the pain, he soon requested to be taken out of the game and headed directly to the locker room. Early in the second quarter, the Warriors officially ruled him out for the remainder of their 109-94 loss.

According to Anthony Slater of The Athletic, Butler is scheduled to undergo an MRI on Thursday to assess the extent of the injury. “Jimmy always says he’s fine,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr commented after the game.

Adding to the Warriors’ challenges, guard Brandin Podziemski was initially questionable to return due to illness but later rejoined the game midway through the third quarter. The early exits of two starters forced Coach Kerr to utilize his bench extensively, with 12 different players seeing court time by the point Butler was ruled out. This included Jonathan Kuminga, who had been out of the rotation for Game 1 but returned to action shortly after Butler’s injury.