CNN
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If a chastening 109-94 defeat to the Houston Rockets in Game 2 wasn’t enough to deal with, the Golden State Warriors are now also sweating on the health of Jimmy Butler.
The former Miami Heat star, who has helped transform Golden State’s fortunes since making his debut in February, took a hard fall on his tailbone late in the first quarter after being fouled by Amen Thompson.
Butler got up and made one of two free throws but was clearly struggling to even walk. He soon made his way gingerly back to the locker room while holding his lower back area and was ruled out for the rest of the game with a pelvis contusion.
The Warriors said Butler will undergo an MRI on Thursday.
Losing Butler for any period of time during the playoffs would be a huge blow to Golden State. After struggling for consistency during the regular season, Golden State finished the campaign on a 23-8 run after Butler’s debut to enter the playoffs as one of the NBA’s hottest teams.
Butler put in a vintage ‘Playoff Jimmy’ performance to help the Warriors win Game 1, registering 25 points, seven rebounds, six assists and five steals.
“Hopefully, Jimmy will be able to play,” Warriors head coach Steve Kerr said of Butler’s availability for Game 3 on Saturday, per the Associated Press. “But if not, we have to go through our options and put together a plan.”
The Warriors were also without Brandin Podziemski for much of the game as the guard struggled with a stomach illness.
For the Rockets, Jalen Green bounced back from his playoff debut flub in Game 1 with a huge performance to lead his team to tie the best-of-seven series.
The Houston guard admitted “the lights were bright” and his legs were a “little shaky” after he put up just seven points in the series opener.
On Wednesday, however, Green went off for 38 points, four rebounds, six assists and three steals. He made eight three-pointers, which is two more than the entire Rockets team managed in Game 1.
“I feel like a did a good job of answering back,” Green said. “From the beginning, my whole mindset from today was to go in and be aggressive and get back to being myself.”
Alperen Şengün added 17 points, 16 rebounds, seven assists and two steals for the Rockets.
Steph Curry had 20 points for the Warriors to take him past 4,000 career points in the playoffs, making him just the 11th player in history to reach the landmark.
The two teams will next face off in Game 3 in the Bay Area on Saturday.