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Ohm Youngmisuk
HOUSTON — The Golden State Warriors go into the All-Star break feeling much more confident about their season with Jimmy Butler III on their side.
The Warriors improved to 3-1 since trading for Butler with a 105-98 victory over the Houston Rockets at the Toyota Center on Thursday.
“He’s a franchise changer,” Warriors power forward Draymond Green said about Butler. “He’s done that everywhere he’s gone, and he is helping revitalize what we got here. The belief amongst this team, now that he’s arrived, as opposed to what it was before he got here, it’s night and day.”
Warriors coach Steve Kerr said Butler is the finisher they have desperately needed to give Stephen Curry, who finished with 27 points and two big fourth-quarter 3-pointers, some help down the stretch of tight games.
Butler finished with 19 points, 8 rebounds and 4 assists. When the Warriors watched a 24-point lead dwindle to 91-89 with 6:03 left, Butler returned at the 4:42 mark with the lead at four. The Warriors went on a 9-2 run with Butler scoring four points.
“Jimmy, he’s a real deal,” Kerr said. “I mean, just a complete basketball player, methodical, under control all the time, plays at his own pace, never turns it over, sees the game and then can get to the line frequently. Great closer, not in the traditional sense where he’s going to be Kevin Durant and make four straight midrange jumpers, but it’s more of a complete game. Get to the line, make the right pass, get somebody else an open look, get a defensive stop, get a rebound. He’s a fantastic player.”
Butler was beating himself up for not being undefeated as a Warrior. The Warriors’ 111-107 loss at the Dallas Mavericks on Wednesday still stung.
“We should be 4-0,” Butler said. “I am not going to lie to you. I have been sick to my stomach because of it since I got here. But we are going to figure it out. We are going to go streaking.”
Considering the Warriors got to their hotel around 3:30 a.m. after the loss in Dallas and nearly let a 24-point lead slip away, Green said Thursday’s game could have easily gone the other way if not for Butler’s presence.
“We let one get away last night, but this one tonight, we would’ve lost,” Green said. “But just having a guy like that changes everything for us. So after four games … the assessment [on Butler] is, it’s great.”
