Butler’s debut brings Warriors fresh start for playoff push

Butler’s debut brings Warriors fresh start for playoff push originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

CHICAGO – When Jimmy Butler was introduced by the Warriors on Thursday in Los Angeles, the number across his back was one he had never worn.

Not in high school. Not in his one year at Tyler Junior College. Not in the three years he spent at Marquette. Not on any of the four previous teams he has played for in the NBA.

But when Butler made his Warriors debut Saturday night in Chicago, there was another change above his new No. 10 jersey. Another number. Three more numbers in fact.

On the one-year anniversary of the death of his father, Jimmy Butler Jr., his son decided to honor him by having his nameplate read “Butler III,” an addition the newest Warriors star after a 132-111 win at United Center says will last “forever and ever.”

Butler’s Warriors tenure began in the middle of a seven-game road trip, with six being before the NBA All-Star break. Warriors fans are sure to give him a warm welcome and rousing ovation in his home debut at Chase Center, presumably on Feb. 23 against Klay Thompson and the Dallas Mavericks, but being on the road is the perfect place to integrate him into the Warriors. To play dominoes on the team plane, make memories that have nothing to with basketball, and get to know the person more than the player.

“Just starting off on this road trip, it’s huge,” Draymond Green said. “Credit to Jimmy. Today was the anniversary of his dad passing. Kind of full circle, coming back here, all of those emotions and just the way he handled himself. Status quo. Push forward.

“It’s really good for us to be in the middle of this road trip where he’s with us, spending a ton of time together.”

The Warriors aren’t 1-0, they’re 26-26, back to .500 with 30 regular-season games left. But there was a vibe shift Saturday night. On the court, in the locker room and at the podium.

Steph Curry and Butler combined to score 59 points – 34 from Curry and 25 by Butler – on 54.8 percent shooting. They were the perfect pair of opposites to meet right in the middle. The Warriors once were down by 24 points, only to then lead by 25 and win by 21.

After trailing 83-59 at the 8:30 mark of the third quarter, the Warriors outscored the Bulls 73-28, a 45-point difference in the final 20 and a half minutes of the game.

“It’s important for the vibe, it’s important for the confidence and it’s important in the standings,” Steve Kerr said. “We came in in 11th place. The goal is to get up to sixth. That’s may be possible, it may not be. We probably have to get really hot to get to sixth. But we got 30 games left, so we can’t mess around. We gotta get going.”

Curry sensed the feelings of Hawaii in Chicago. The weather said otherwise. There weren’t beaches and palm trees, but wind, temperature in the 20s and icy snow on the ground.

Even before he first played a game for the Warriors, Butler was yet to practice with the team. The Warriors held shootaround Saturday morning, but Butler couldn’t participate because not all physicals for other players in the trade were processed.

All those factors led to Curry joking that the morning felt like training camp with how the Warriors had to break down sets and communication, basic principles of their system. Butler only knew the wording of three plays, but his high basketball IQ took over once the ball was tipped.

“It does feel like a fresh start, a full sprint to the finish line, hopefully,” Curry said. “Our main goal is to get out of the play-in and get firmly into a playoff series. I think that’s a realistic goal. Just to fight our way into a playoff appearance and take a shot, that’s all we want.”

As Butler sat in the visiting locker room in the arena he called home for the first six seasons of his NBA career, he lit a candle and placed it on a table to his right. His personal speaker blasted music, putting Butler in his own little zen space.

Players inside and outside the locker room gave the look. It was an eagerness for more, a readiness to see what this team can be the longer Butler is wearing a Warriors jersey. One player across the room from Butler said to NBC Sports Bay Area, “This is going to work. Did you see the fourth quarter? We’re not losing fourth quarters anymore.”

To give Curry a well-earned breather to begin the fourth after scorching the Bulls for 24 points in the third, Kerr kept him on the bench with the Warriors up by three. No problem, Butler was out there, going on a 7-0 run of his own to open the final frame for a 10-point Warriors lead.

By the time Curry was back in the game, the Warriors had a 17-point lead and Butler had scored 10 points in the quarter, including a perfect 4 of 4 at the free-throw line.

Only two Western Conference teams – the Dallas Mavericks and Houston Rockets – have an easier strength of schedule than the Warriors the rest of the regular season. They’re still on the outside looking in of the play-in tournament, and 3.5 games back of the No. 6 seed to avoid.

A few days ago, that might have felt like a momentous climb for the Warriors. It’s one game, a fact everyone recognized. The aura recognized something entirely different, as if Butler and the Warriors alike found a magic eraser to wipe away the past, injecting jet fuel into a team gearing to race across the finish line.

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