Warriors News: Jimmy Butler Knee Injury Update

Fortune has turned its back on the Warriorswho in the midst of climbing the Western Conference standings – and waiting to resolve a possible transfer before the February deadline – are going to lose one of their best players. And how capricious is fate: against the team in which he played for six years and where he was runner-up, Jimmy Butler has been seriously injured and says goodbye to the season.

With 4:19 minutes played in the third quarter in this Monday’s Warriors-Heat, where the Californians won 135-112the most delicate play. Jimmy Butler jumped two feet and vertically in a fight with Davion Mitchell, a powerful jump but from which he landed a bit disoriented although he took the ball; The legs opened and the right one gave way on impact with the parquet, twisting the knee in a rather ugly gesture. Pelle Larsson, who was right behind watching, instantly realized how bad the situation was looking.

Butler He retired to the locker room without being able to step, with a loud applause but being aware of what was coming. After the first examination by the doctors, at the end of the match, a regrettable diagnosis: the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee was torn. He will undergo surgery for this injury and recovery will take around eight months.

The Houston forward, 36 yearswas part of the comeback that Golden State was making in its conference. 12 of 16 wins after a bad month of November. This January, precisely, Jimmy’s average was impressive: 21.3 points. Not only that, but in the duel with the Heat he had already scored 17 points (6/11 on field goals, 5/5 from personal range).

Butler He is the player with the most experience and quality who supported Stephen Curry, in another season in which the point guard is making mischief on the fly. The adjustment problems in the squad have not been a matter of the two of them, stable for a good part of the course. The absence of the brave player disrupts many of the team’s options.

According to Curry, Butler was still joking in the locker room after injuries and before the bad news fell on the entire squad like jugs of ice water. Jimmy, locker room leader, had already tried to get his team back on track when the defeats began to fall. ““We don’t defend anyone.”he blurted out in public to reactivate the morale of his people. A while later the good streak began that still continues and of which he is a fundamental part. Being above twenty points on average with a 51% shooting success rate is striking and Butler has signed it this year. Numbers from another era, when he was the absolute leader in Miami or Chicago. A tough loss in San Francisco.

All eyes turn to Kuminga

You will have to look at other pieces on the board, which must move. Because they were a threat in the Western Conference. Golden State, with a 25-19 record, is eighth ranked there and with the most wins over teams on that side of the table – according to the trend. something more complicated – than franchises that surpass it like Minnesota or Houston. Now we have to look at the market, where there are two weeks left to balance transfers, and see what is clear. Here comes the raw. Butler’s natural replacement in the Warriors is the Congolese Jonathan Kuminga, renewed in the summer and who now wants to leave because he believes that they do not believe in him enough. Will this situation turn around? Kerr assured when talking about Butler’s injury that Kuminga is ready to play. It will be another test for the coach, the collective response and the African’s professionalism, three in one. The trade is still on the cards, as are other more aggressive moves, as Butler begins a long recovery.

–