“Belief”. This is what Draymond Green said has changed about the Golden State Warriors since the team acquired Jimmy Butler back in February. Even Stephen Curry aligned with this viewpoint, as he stated earlier, “The way that we’re playing right now, is reflective of what Jimmy’s brought to us”. Butler’s veteran experience, combined with the passion he displays in suggesting plays, is what allowed him to average 17.9 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 5.9 assists in 30 regular-season games with the Warriors. It is why the Warriors went from having one of the worst records of the season to making it to the Play-In series. Now, as Stephen Curry and co finally make it to the playoffs, Steve Kerr couldn’t help but be thankful for having the former Miami Heat star on their side. After all, he did foil the rival team’s plans.
In the aftermath of the Warriors’ 121-116 win against the Memphis Grizzlies, the Warriors’ head coach participated in a presser. During the same, he was asked if Jimmy Butler knew what kind of plays Ja Morant and co were going to draw up. Kerr replied in the affirmative, revealing that a conversation about the same took place during shootaround. In fact, Butler anticipated the play so well, he was bold enough to state “I don’t care who guards me, you know. Just give me…. give me space, give me the ball, I’ll make something happen”. Kerr, in the mood to gloat, couldn’t help but state, “That’s the beauty of Jimmy. I mean you guys can see it. Like we are…. we have morphed into a different team. We’ve got the movement, and the flow of Steph, but we’ve also become for half the game a great ISO team”.
Very few things can give you more advantage than anticipating what plays the rival team will draw up for the game. Jimmy Butler was able to make good use of this information and able to draw foul after foul. As a result, the player scored 12 of his 38 points by shooting 12-18 free throws. Grizzlies interim head coach Tuomas Iisalo had anticipated this before the game. After all, he went on the record and stated, “He’s obviously brought a lot. He’s changed their season. They are very good now defensively, extremely good defensively. Disruptive. He gives them another offensive playmaker; he’s driven their free throw-attempt rate through the roof”.
Despite this, Butler’s 18 free-throw attempts set a new play-in tournament record for the most in a single game. It passed the previous record set by Boston Celtics superstar Jayson Tatum. Tatum had earlier gone 17-17 from the charity stripe in a 50-point outing in 2021.
Feb 21, 2025; Sacramento, California, USA; Golden State Warriors forward Jimmy Butler III (10) poses for a photo during the fourth quarter against the Golden State Warriors at Golden 1 Center. Mandatory Credit: Sergio Estrada-Imagn Images
Other than the free throws, Butler delivered on another thing Tuomas Iisalo was aware of. It was that offensive playmaking and handling things on the defensive front. Stephen Curry’s 37 points weren’t already enough to give the Bay Area franchise an edge. However, Butler took things 1 step (or rather 1 point) further by scoring 38 points, 7 rebounds, and 6 assists over 40 minutes. Along with the free throws, the player recorded 12-20 (60.0%) field goals, and 2-4 (50.0%) 3-pointers. As Dan Titus highlighted, “The Chase Center crowd got their first taste of Playoff Jimmy” right from the start.
The veteran relentlessly hunted mismatches against Memphis’ oversized lineup of Zach Edey, Santi Aldama, and Jaren Jackson Jr.. Even the Grizzlies’ big men struggled to stick with Butler in isolation. As a result, by half-time, Butler had racked up 21 points on an efficient 7-12 shooting from the field. All because he knew what to do, when to do.
Kerr also applauded Butler’s efforts on the defensive front by revealing, “So Jimmy’s a great defensive player, he and Draymond behind the play allow us to, you know, play smaller without giving up too much”.
For Bay Area fans, Butler’s performance was an example of basketball at its finest. Unfortunately, not everyone was impressed with Cameron Brink’s favorite player.
Jimmy Butler draws criticism over 18 free throws: “how bad these refs are”
When a player makes a major portion of his points through free throws, he is prone to face criticism. As expected, Jimmy Butler’s 18 free-throw attempts were not well received by a few people. In the aftermath of the game, social media was filled with claims downplaying the veteran’s performance. The official X account of LakeShowYo poked fun at the player by morphing his picture and replacing his face with that of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. It was accompanied by a caption that read “Jimmy Butler 19 free throws”. SGA was used for the joke since the player finished 2nd in the regular season in total free throw attempts after recording 669 shots. He also led the league in makes through his 601 free throws.
Jimmy Butler 19 free throws pic.twitter.com/5TqfmMVUlW
— LakeShowYo (@LakeShowYo) April 16, 2025
LakeShowYo wasn’t alone in giving out the criticism. Other accounts also joined in. One of them took a shot at the officiating and wrote “how bad these refs are” along with attaching a GIF of Kendall and Kylie Jenner. From more remarks like “18 fts ? c’mon mannn” and “Disgusting whistle” to “Free throw merchant”, the hate was spread out. Fortunately, Butler, Kerr, and the Warriors squad seem to have ignored it. After all, what else matters, now that the Bay Area is once again headed to the playoffs? What were your thoughts on Jimmy Butler’s recent performance? Let us know in the comments section down below.
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