Golden State Warriors Keep Reaping Jimmy Butler Rewards, Finally Besting L.A. Lakers

Even on a night when Jimmy Butler III was his team’s fifth-leading scorer, he figured prominently in Golden State’s enormous 123-116 win over the Lakers on Thursday night. As the game wrapped up, TNT play-by-play man Kevin Harlan reminded the country that the Warriors are now 20-5 since landing the former Miami Heat star.

If you’re emotionally invested in Miami, the knife-twisting won’t stop until Butler’s Warriors are eliminated. Considering Golden State is now 13-0 when Steve Kerr is able to trot out his new preferred starting five that includes Butler and Draymond Green up front alongside guards Stephen Curry, Brandin Podziemski and Moses Moody, that might be a while.

Golden State was 0-3 this season against the Lakers prior to acquiring Butler, which included a 120-112 loss on Feb. 6, the day his acquisition was finalized. Although Curry and Podziemski starred in combining for 12 3-point makes and 65 points, Draymond Green credited Butler’s toughness as a massive reason the Warriors were able to get over the hump in L.A.

“Jimmy is tough as hell,” Green said to the San Francisco Chronicle about Butler playing through stretching his forearm unnaturally early in the game. “We needed him to come back in and close that game out. He came back and he was exactly who he’s been and who we needed him to be.”

Butler had a critical steal with 15 seconds remaining and the Lakers down just 121-116. He finished with three thefts and has been instrumental in providing a toughness head coach Steve Kerr felt his team was lacking. Although he’s still in the honeymoon stage, Butler has bonded with teammates like Green through playing dominoes, similar to how he did in South Florida. Given that he opted not to interact with most of his ex-Heat teammates in his return on March 25, that also has to bother those who wish Butler's exit wasn't so acrimonious.

LeBron James now has a tougher opponent to deal with in Golden State thanks to Butler’s arrival after narrowly getting the Lakers past Curry and Green in the 2023 Western Conference semifinals.

“I’ve had to go against them when they added Kevin Durant,” James told reporters post-game after his 33-point effort wasn’t enough to keep Golden State from pulling one game behind L.A. for the Western Conference’s No. 4 seed. “It’s always the same, they always figure it out. They always add someone that makes them dynamic.”

Butler isn’t going to dominate games by scoring as Durant would, but his impact has nevertheless been just as substantial. Kerr is hoping his forearm won’t be a lingering issue. The Warriors hadn’t released an updated injury report for their home date with the Denver Nuggets as of 11:30 AM ET and weren’t required to do so until later on Friday afternoon.

Tony Mejia is a contributor to Miami Heat On SI. He can be reached at tnyce1414@gmail.com