A borderline dirty play added injury to insult in the Golden State Warriors' Game 2 loss to the Houston Rockets.
Generally, it's almost impossible to gauge intent on any play in basketball. However, there were at least a couple of questionable plays in Game 2 between the Houston Rockets and Golden State Warriors. There was none bigger than the one that forced Jimmy Butler to leave the game due to a pelvic injury.
Late in the first quarter, as Jimmy went up for a rebound, Amen Thompson (who may or may not have been pushed by another player) rammed into the lower body of an airborne Butler. Jimmy took a huge fall. Jimmy attempted to shake off the fall, but would soon leave the game and didn't return. He's now slated to undergo an MRI.
Shortly after the injury, there were many who called the play "dirty." Again, intent is almost impossible to know, and there are a lot of moving parts in any given play. While I don't believe Amen had the intention to take out Jimmy, the play doesn't look good. At this point, the hope is that Jimmy doesn't miss any time with the injury.
Jimmy Butler's status is up in the air heading into Game 2
At least for now, that can't be assumed. Jimmy's status heading into Game 3 is very much in doubt. More will be known about the injury once the MRI is done, but the initial fall didn't look good. It would be a terrible look if this is the way Jimmy's season ended for the Warriors. Without Jimmy in the lineup, the Warriors struggled mightily in Game 2 against the Rockets.
Houston went on to cruise to a 15-point win in Game 2 to tie the seven-game series at one game apiece. Without Jimmy, it's hard to imagine the Warriors having enough to overcome the upstart Rockets in this series.
The Rockets and Warriors just have Thursday and Friday off before Game 3 takes place Saturday night. Will that be enough time for Jimmy to shake off the injury from Game 2? That's the hope. And if everything does come back clear after the MRI, there's going to be a chance that Jimmy toughs it out. At least for now, the main hope for the Warriors is that everything comes back relatively fine in the scans. If it does, it will be more about pain management for Jimmy.
As one of the toughest players in the league, you'd expect Jimmy to try and tough it out. Make no mistake, this injury to Jimmy, even if he does try to play through it, can't help the Warriors' chances of not only pulling off this first-round playoff upset, but also making a deep run in the West bracket.