MILWAUKEE — Jimmy Butler spent a portion of his suspension hiatus in San Diego, the only time he was able to get on a basketball court in a five-on-five setting in nearly a month, finding a decent run with some locals. But that isn’t exactly equivalent to defending Damian Lillard in the pick-and-roll and muscling through a Brook Lopez contest.
“NBA basketball is way different than just hooping,” Butler said.
Five minutes into his first game with the Warriors, Butler was so exhausted he had Steve Kerr call a timeout. His teammates were still laughing with him about it a couple of days later.
Among Butler’s greatest skills is his elite conditioning. That’s already been on display with the Warriors. His ability to get immediate clearance from Rick Celebrini (the team’s lead medical decision-maker) and log 60 total minutes in two games is an impressive feat, looking in rhythm the entirety of the time.
“You gotta think, I haven’t played basketball in a month,” Butler said. “My wind is nowhere close to where it needs to be. I can’t wait until I’m back in basketball shape where I’m used to being. I won’t miss free throws as much. I’ll have lift on my jump shots. Right now, I’m just gassed. I’m glad we’re winning. But I gotta get in better shape.”
Butler made those comments while icing and decompressing following the Warriors’ 125-111 win in Milwaukee, a 2-0 opening to the Butler era. He only made four of his 12 shots, but Butler got to the line 15 times and had four of the team’s 16 steals, providing a new level of muscle and two-way disruption this roster so severely lacked before his arrival.
“That just tells you how good he is,” Steph Curry said. “He doesn’t feel like himself and he’s still impacting the game.”
Butler has 28 free-throw attempts in his two games — becoming the first Warriors player to take at least 13 free throws in consecutive games since Kevin Durant in 2018.
“No, it don’t,” Butler said when asked if 15 attempts felt like a lot. “Three misses is, though. I hate misses.”
Curry torched the Bucks two nights after similarly scalding the Bulls. In his two games since Butler’s arrival, Curry has scored 72 points in 68 minutes on 22-of-43 shooting. He’s made 14 3s and acknowledged that there was a direct correlation between his mini-breakout and Butler’s presence.
“Every possession just doesn’t feel as hard,” Curry said. “You still see attention, you still see defenses, but you have to worry about something else. I want to be aggressive. Earlier in the year, that aggression didn’t necessarily lead to anything as consistently as it has the last two games.”
Steph Curry on Jimmy Butler’s impact on him: “Every possession doesn’t feel as hard.” pic.twitter.com/neo7Rcqr2n
— Anthony Slater (@anthonyVslater) February 11, 2025
For the second consecutive game, the Warriors stretched the lead to open the fourth quarter with Curry on the bench and Butler leading a methodical second-unit run. Curry actually left the floor late in the third with the Warriors up by 2 and Butler closed the quarter on a 6-0 run with a driving layup, two free throws and an 11-footer off a post-up.
“That’s part of my job here,” Butler said. “Attack. Attack, attack, attack. Get into the paint, finish when I can and get fouled. I got the easy job. I’m open a lot of the times.
“They look to give me the ball in the position that I’m comfortable in just continually being who I am. They make it a thing to remind me to be me every single possession down the floor on both sides of the ball. So when you got people in your corner like that, they want you to be successful and are continually telling me to be me. It’s easy.”
Curry entered the game against the Bucks with 8:13 left in the fourth quarter and the Warriors up by 7. They were a cumulative plus-6 in the non-Curry minutes.
That included the most important back-to-back possessions of the night, as Curry labeled it when rookie center Quinten Post made two of his four 3s to stretch the lead from two to eight. Post had 13 points in 13 minutes.
Quinten Post defends against Milwaukee’s Kyle Kuzma. Post had 13 points in 13 minutes for the Warriors. (Benny Sieu / Imagn Images)
“That’s my dog,” Butler said of Post. “You know, we both basically from Amsterdam. I’m also Brazilian and Colombian. I used to live and work out over where he was (in Amsterdam), where he played at first. So I got a lot of love for him. And he plays so incredibly hard and hella smart and can shoot the hell out of it. I like young fella.”
Butler predicted that he’d get his wind back by the Houston game on Thursday and that he’d be in a great place when the Warriors return from the All-Star break the following Friday night in Sacramento. They have two huge road games against the Mavericks and Rockets this week as they try to climb toward the sixth seed. They’re currently a half-game behind Dallas for the eighth spot.
“Sixth seed is the goal,” Kerr said.
(Top photo of Jimmy Butler going to the basket against Milwaukee Bucks center Brook Lopez: Benny Sieu / Imagn Images)
