HOUSTON – Jimmy Butler has repeatedly referred to Stephen Curry as Batman to his Robin.
So, after Butler went down 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 couldn't play.
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“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.”
Curry took over himself on Saturday night with Butler sidelined as the Warriors beat the Rockets 104-93 in Game 3, scoring 36 points to go with nine assists and seven rebounds while playing almost 41 minutes. Golden State grabbed a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven series with Game 4 back at Chase Center on Monday.
Coach Steve Kerr isn't sure how long the Warriors might be without Butler, who has helped the team to a 25-9 record since a February trade from the Heat. He was listed as questionable for Saturday’s Game 3 and then ruled out. An MRI Thursday reveled that he injured his pelvis and has a deep gluteal muscle contusion.
Curry said that everyone would need to help pick up the slack if Butler was sidelined. But he also knows that Jonathan Kuminga will have to be “a huge part of what we do.” Kuminga was inserted into the starting lineup for his fourth career playoff start.
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.”
Now without Butler, the Warriors are trying to find ways to draw defenders off Curry, who is tugged at and double-teamed so regularly.
Coach Steve Kerr considers that it all comes down to spacing.
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 prepare each game as if Butler will play, but they would 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.
He reached 4,053 career playoff points and passed Tony Parker (4,045) for 10th most in NBA history.
And he was prepared to do more to help the Warriors if it turned out that Butler couldn'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,” Curry said.
His message to the rest of the team was 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