Warriors’ Steve Kerr makes shocking confession about Jimmy Butler-led Dubs

Jimmy Butler was tasked with leading the Golden State Warriors to a win in Game 1 of the Western Conference Semifinals against the Minnesota Timberwolves when Stephen Curry went down with a left hamstring injury. The Warriors forward did just that, as he finished with 20 points, 11 rebounds, eight assists, and two steals in the team’s 99-88 win on Tuesday night.

This was a collective team effort, as Butler wasn’t the only player to step up in the win. Buddy Hield led all scorers with 24 points, and Draymond Green also hit some big shots with 18 points and four made triples. Head coach Steve Kerr also utilized 12 different players and looked to bring Braxton Key into the game as the 13th different player for a single possession off the end of the bench.

Despite all the lineup changes to try and seize a Game 1 win, it was Butler whom Kerr leaned on down the stretch run of games. In doing so, Kerr recognized the challenges his team’s offense faced, and he admitted that he wanted Butler to have the ball in his hands because he made smart decisions. That was true even when the Warriors turned the ball over.

“The game settles down. I mean, you could see the last six, eight minutes, all we were doing was high ball screens for Jimmy. We were even willing to take shot-clock violations at that point,” Kerr said of putting the ball in Butler’s hands after Curry’s injury. “It was all about protecting the ball, and Jimmy is, I think, as good as anybody, any star in the league, at reading the game — understanding how to control the tempo (and) control the time.

“Putting the ball in his hands in a situation like that is pretty comforting.”

The Warriors won Game 1 by 11 points on the road, but they had 18 turnovers. In the fourth quarter, Golden State turned the ball over four times, including three shot-clock violations.

Although this is obviously not a trend Kerr and the Warriors want to follow moving forward in this series, it was the best course of attack to halt the Timberwolves’ comeback attempt in the fourth quarter of Game 1.

By putting the ball in Butler’s hands, Kerr knew that the pace of play would slow down and Golden State would be in control of things, regardless of whether there was a shot-clock violation. Instead of having others try and make plays, which could’ve resulted in fastbreak scoring opportunities off live-ball turnovers, Kerr entrusted Butler to keep the ball as long as possible.

As a result, the Warriors would either get a shot off at the end of the shot clock or give the ball up in a dead-ball situation, allowing them to get back and set up their defense before the Timberwolves came running down the court.

The NBA playoffs are oftentimes a game of chess and not checkers between head coaches. Although unorthodox, Kerr entrusting Butler to keep the ball and sometimes take a violation ultimately led to the Warriors picking up a Game 1 win.