The Golden State Warriors are amidst a highly intense first-round series with the Houston Rockets. Saturday’s Game 3 followed a similar pattern as both teams took part in a physical battle all night, with bodies hitting the floor from the very first quarter. The Warriors were short-handed with their superstar, Jimmy Butler, on the sidelines after a brutal fall earlier in the series. Golden State had no option other than to rely on its depth. Sure enough, the Dubs’ supporting cast came clutch while the Rockets struggled against Stephen Curry’s offensive prowess in the fourth quarter. This ensured a 104-93 victory on the night and a commanding 2-1 lead in the series. While Butler was not on the floor, he still played a massive part in the win.

Since the 2020 season, people have dubbed Jimmy Butler as “Playoff Jimmy” whenever he enters the postseason. While he downplays the notion, everyone thinks otherwise. The Warriors got their first taste of Payoff Jimmy in their play-in game against the Grizzlies. The 33-year-old forward erupted against Memphis, scoring 38 points, along with six assists and seven rebounds. Since then, he’s just been phenomenal, going off for 25 points in Game 1. However, he downplayed the tag of “Playoff Jimmy” yet again when he spoke to ESPN’s Ohm Youngmisuk. “Man, I think it’s a facade that people have created over the years,” Butler stated. While it seems he becomes a completely different player in the postseason, Jimmy Butler doesn’t think so.

“I know what I’m capable of. I can tell you that. And I love it because everybody thinks I just take it up a notch, and I don’t really just take it up a notch. I just might have the ball a little bit more. I might be a tad more aggressive, looking to score.” He explained that “Playoff Jimmy” is not real, and everyone just assumes that he does something off the charts as soon as the calendar hits the month of April, which isn’t the case. On the contrary, he takes playoff games like any other matchups, with the only possible changes being him having a little more time on the ball and a slight increase in his aggression. While Butler denies it, his stats say otherwise. Jimmy Butler’s numbers in the playoffs see a massive spike in the postseason.

Nonetheless, even if he doesn’t attest to the fact that “Playoff Jimmy” is a real thing, he’s willing to do it for his Batman, Stephen Curry. “[But] you’re talking about somebody that’s going to do anything to f*****g win. That’s some motherf****r right there. The person that they deemed as [Playoff Jimmy], he’ll die out there. He really will. It’s scary. He really will die out there.” He further added while speaking to ESPN. The 33-year-old emphasized doing whatever it takes to win, especially during the playoffs. It goes to show the level of sacrifice Golden State’s self-proclaimed Robin is willing to make for the team. Sure enough, it’s remarkable to see such a great mentality, which might benefit the Warriors down the line this season. While Jimmy Butler’s fitness remains in question for Game 4, the Warriors have learnt a massive lesson in his absence.

Jimmy Butler’s injury has taught Golden State a valuable lesson

Jimmy Butler’s arrival in the Bay Area has been nothing short of impressive. Since he’s joined forces with other Golden State Warriors stars such they’ve been unstoppable. You don’t have to believe our words, their 26-9 record with the 33-year-old speaks for itself. However, that came to a halt when he took a nasty fall after what seemed to be an undercut by Houston’s Amen Thompson on a defensive rebound. This led Butler to suffer a painful pelvic contusion and limited his gametime to just 8 minutes in Game 2– which the Warriors eventually lost without him. Moreover, this injury also sidelined him for the next game, where he was seen passionately taking part in giving advice to the players on the floor.

Following useful advice from the 33-year-old superstars, the Warriors came on top in Saturday’s slugfest. Stephen Curry led the way, scoring a team-high 36 points along with seven rebounds and nine assists. Meanwhile, Draymond Green was locked in on the defense in Butler’s absence. He managed to grab 8 boards and also had three huge blocks and a couple of steals. After the game, the 35-year-old Warriors big man revealed what he’s learnt in Jimmy Butler’s absence. “I have to improve personally i got to stop turning the goddamn ball. I agree that it is my self-improvement.” Green stated on the latest episode of his podcast, ‘The Draymond Green Show with Baron Davis.’ He pointed out that in Butler’s absence, he has quickly learnt that he needs to stop turning the ball over!

That’s something Green has been struggling with and needs to fix.  “As a team, I think we cleaned up that end tonight. We only had 10 turnovers as a team. I think we improved offensive rebound-wise, and saying that, they still have 15. Let’s get that to 11, you know what I’m saying, let’s get that to 11 or 12. So I think, and then some of those be like two or three offensive rebounds on the same possession, so sometimes in the numbers, it can look a little more skewed than it actually is, but overall I thought we did a great job on the defensive boards.” He also explained that as a team, Golden State stood tall on the defensive end and did a great job. Well, that’s something they’ll need to keep doing as Jimmy Butler’s availability remains in the balance.