The Golden State Warriors nearly let things slip away in the third quarter on Tuesday night at Chase Center.
After leading by as many as 17 points in the second quarter and taking a 14-point lead into halftime, the Warriors saw the Milwaukee Bucks come storming back, flipping the game with a dominant 32-20 third quarter. At one point, the Bucks even held a six-point lead.
Then, Jimmy Butler took over.
So what was Butler’s message to the team as the Bucks made their push?
“This is a game of runs,” Butler told NBC Sports Bay Area’s Bonta Hill, Chris Mullin, and Festus Ezeli postgame. “We knew they missed shots in the first half and were going to make some in the second. But we got away from what we were doing—closing out, making things difficult. We got back to that and took the lead back.”
And that’s exactly what they did.
Playoff Jimmy Mode Activated
Butler finished with a game-high 24 points, with 16 of them coming in the second half. He went 4-of-9 from the field but was a perfect 8-for-8 from the free-throw line, stepping up when the Warriors needed him most.
With Steph Curry resting, Golden State needed someone to rise to the occasion—and Butler delivered.
Coming off an ugly loss to the short-handed Denver Nuggets on Monday, the Warriors could’ve folded when Milwaukee went on its run. Earlier this season, they might have. But with Butler in the mix, they had the grit to make the in-game adjustments and secure the 104-93 win, improving to 40-29 on the season.
The Warriors are finding their rhythm at the right time—and Butler is proving to be a key part of their late-season push.