The Golden State Warriors took off after acquiring Jimmy Butler from the Miami Heat, and they continued their stellar late-season sprint in the Western Conference play-in round.
Tuesday’s 121-116 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies earned the Warriors the No. 7 seed in the West.
But the scary part for the Houston Rockets — Golden State’s upcoming first-round opponent — was the combined excellence of Butler and Stephen Curry.
The two combined for 75 points against Memphis. Playoff Jimmy became Play-in Jimmy and poured in 38 points, and Curry added 37 in a sterling performance that included six 3-pointers and a 13-of-13 showing from the free-throw line.
“That’s a Batman if I’ve ever seen a Batman,” Butler said of Curry. “Always coming to save the day. You’re never out of any game. More than anything, he’s so poised and so calm.”
Having a clutch duo of Butler and Curry makes the Warriors a scary team to face in the playoffs.
Butler seemingly was at odds with everyone in the Heat organization, and he got his wish to be traded.
Now he’s a totally different guy — looking happy and content while teaming up with perhaps the best pure shooter in NBA history.
The Warriors went 23-7 when Butler was in the lineup during the regular season. And this play-in victory displays the sheer chemistry the two stars have developed in a very short time.
Curry also is an exceptional teammate, and he knows how to successfully navigate a sometimes incorrigible teammate.
Don’t forget, Curry has been teammates with Draymond Green for 13 seasons. So there’s a good chance Curry and coach Steve Kerr can keep Butler in line.
If Curry and Butler put up efforts like this in the same game, Golden State has a strong chance at beating the Rockets.
Houston has a ton of talent on a deep roster and a stellar coach in Ime Udoka. But the Rockets don’t have a bona fide go-to scorer used to playoff pressure situations.
Golden State has two.
The Grizzlies put up a good fight, with the stellar Desmond Bane scoring 30 points. Memphis trailed by 20 in the second quarter and recovered to lead in the fourth.
Ja Morant injured his right ankle late in the third quarter and returned to the game in the final quarter. He put up a game effort while affected by the ankle, and now Memphis is hoping it will have the star point guard for Friday’s final Western Conference play-in game.
The Grizzlies had a chance to tie late in the game, but Santi Aldama was called for a five-second violation on an inbounds play with 5.4 seconds left. That was a killer.
The Orlando Magic also punched their playoff ticket on Tuesday with a 120-95 victory over the Atlanta Hawks. Orlando will face the Boston Celtics in the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs.
The Magic led by as many as 22 points in the first half before the Hawks trimmed it to three late in the third quarter. Orlando then outscored Atlanta 41-22 in the fourth quarter to pull away.
The Magic received 26 points off the bench from Cole Anthony and another 16 from Anthony Black. Those kinds of efforts will be needed against the Celtics, as players other than Franz Wagner and Paolo Banchero need to have big outings for Orlando to make it a series.
Atlanta will have another chance to land a playoff berth on Friday and it will need to shoot better than Tuesday’s 4-of-21 from 3-point range.
Trae Young scored 28 points but got himself ejected with 4:47 left with a lame display of unsportsmanlike conduct. He tossed the ball at one official and then wouldn’t give the ball to another official, kicking it away as if he were six years old instead of 26.
Young has vowed to be on his best behavior on Friday, saying in part, “I know we’ve got to win or go home next game and I’m going to be ready.”
Of course, they could have won Tuesday to claim a spot. No margin for error now.
