HOUSTON (AP) — Jimmy Butler has repeatedly referred to Stephen Curry as Batman to his Robin.
So, after Butler went out with a pelvic bruise in Game 2 of Golden State’s first-round Western Conference playoff series with the Houston Rockets, Curry was asked who would fill in as Robin if his teammate can’t play.
“I’m not too familiar with the comic world,” Curry said. “I don’t have any other references other than we just got to find a way to win.”
Houston took Game 2 109-94 behind a 38-point performance by Jalen Green to tie the series.
Now the Warriors could have to move on without Butler, who has helped the team to a 25-9 record since a February trade from the Heat. He is listed as questionable for Saturday’s Game 3 after an MRI Thursday reveled that he injured his pelvis and has a deep gluteal muscle contusion.
Curry said that everyone will need to help pick up the slack if Butler can’t go Saturday. But he also knows that Jonathan Kuminga will have to be “a huge part of what we do.”
Kuminga’s role has diminished greatly since Butler joined the team and he hadn’t played in three games before he was called into the rotation when Butler was injured Wednesday.
“As soon as Jimmy went down, I actually saw him on the bench and gave him a little love and knew he was going to get his number called pretty quickly,” Curry said. “And that is the nature of this league. We talk about it all the time. It’s just hard to know and predict when it’s going to be.”
With or without Butler, the Warriors will try to find ways to draw defenders off Curry, who is tugged at and double-teamed so regularly.
“You have to try to counter it however you can, so whether it’s running a certain action or changing a tactic, whatever it is you’ve got to adjust to the way the game is called,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said Friday.
Curry scored 31 points in Golden State’s Game 1 win when Butler chipped in 25 points, seven rebounds and six assists. With Butler playing just eight minutes in Game 2, the Rockets were able to key on Curry and he was limited to 20 points on 6 of 15 shooting.
Houston coach Ime Udoka said the Rockets prepared as if Butler will play, but they’ll be ready regardless of who’s on the court Saturday.
“They still do what they do, it just takes away a scoring option, a facilitator in some isolations,” he said. “But they have enough without him and they’re still going to play the way they play and so (they’re) very dangerous regardless. But it does limit them as far as, another 1A, 1B.”
Curry is a longtime playoff nemesis of the Rockets, having helped the Warriors eliminate them in the postseason four times from 2015-19, including twice in the Western Conference Finals.
Saturday will be Curry’s 150th career playoff game. He has career playoff averages of 27 points, 6.2 assists and 5.3 rebounds.
And he’s prepared to do more to help the Warriors Saturday if Butler can't play.
“If for whatever reason he’s not out there I’ll carry a lot of the lift and the load on trying to create shots and create advantages,” he said.
His message to the rest of the team is to not overthink things and just keep the game simple.
“It’s just normal basketball,” he said. “It’s just a matter of can we do it consistently enough, make enough shots? I don’t think it’s too much rocket science. You’ve just got to be able to do it.”
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AP Sports Writer Janie McCauley in San Francisco contributed to this report.
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AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba
Kristie Rieken, The Associated Press
