The Golden State Warriors took off after acquiring Jimmy Butler from Miami Heat, and they continued their Stellar late season sprint in the Western Conference Play-in round.
Tuesday’s victory 121-116 over Memphis Grizzlies received Warriors No. 7 Seeds in the West.
But the scary part for the Houston Rockets-Golden State upcoming first round opponents-where butler and Stephen Curry’s combined excellence.
The two combined for 75 points against Memphis. Playoff Jimmy became play-in Jimmy and poured 38 points, and Curry added 37 in a sterling performance that included six 3 points and a 13-off-13-view from the free throw line.
“It’s a Batman if I’ve ever seen a Batman,” Butler said about Curry. “Will always save the day. You are never out of any play. More than anything he is so constant and so calm.”
Having a clutch duo of Butler and Curry makes Warriors a scary team to meet in the playoffs.
Butler apparently contrary to everyone in the Heat organization, and he got his desire to be traded.
Now he is a completely different guy – looks happy and satisfied while working with perhaps the best pure shooter in the NBA history.
Warriors went 23-7 when Butler was in the lineup during the regular season. And this play-in victory shows the pure chemistry that the two stars have developed in a very short time.
Curry is also an exceptional teammate, and he knows how to successfully navigate in an sometimes indestructible teammate.
Don’t forget, Curry has been teammates with Draymond Green for 13 seasons. So there is a good chance that Curry and coach Steve Kerr can keep Butler in line.
If Curry and Butler put up efforts like this in the same game, the Golden State has a strong chance to beat the rockets.
Houston has lots of talents on a deep list and a fantastic coach in IME Udoka. But the rockets do not have a bona fide go-to-goal scorer that used the playoffs.
Golden State has two.
Grizzlies made a good fight, with the Stellar Desmond Bane who scored 30 points. Memphis was beaten by 20 during the second quarter and recovered to lead in the fourth.
Yes Morant injured his right ankle late in the third quarter and returned to the match during the last quarter. He put up a game effort while he was affected by the ankle, and now Memphis hopes that it will have Star Point Guard for Friday’s final Western Conference game.
Grizzlies had a chance to bind late in the game, but Santi Aldama was called a five -second violation on an incoming game with 5.4 seconds left. It was a killer.
Orlando Magic also punched his playoffs on Tuesday with a victory of 120-95 over Atlanta Hawks. Orlando will meet Boston Celtics in the first round of the East Conference the playoffs.
Magic led by as many as 22 points during the first half before the hawks trimmed it to three late in the third quarter. Orlando then surpassed Atlanta 41-22 during the fourth quarter to pull away.
Magin got 26 points from the bench from Cole Anthony and another 16 from Anthony Black. Such efforts will be needed against Celtics, as players other than Franz Wagner and Paolo Banchero need big excursions for Orlando to make it a series.
Atlanta will have another chance to land a playoffs on Friday and it will have to shoot better than Tuesday’s 4-AV-21 from 3-points.
Trae Young scored 28 points but got out with 4:47 left with a slippery display of unsportsmanlike behavior. He threw the ball at an official and would then not give the ball to another official and kicked it as if he were six years old instead of 26.
Young has promised to be on its best behavior on Friday and partly said: “I know we have to win or go home the next match and I will be ready.”
Of course, they could have won Tuesday to claim a place. No margin for wrong now.
