Jimmy Butler Gets Brutally Honest on Warriors’ Struggles ...

By Justin Grasso

Contributing Sports Writer

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Jimmy Butler is known not to bite his tongue, especially when things are going south.

The Golden State Warriors star was brutally honest while assessing his team’s performance against the Houston Rockets on Wednesday night.

“We don’t box out. We don’t go with the scouting report. We let anybody do whatever they want. Open shots, get into the paint, free throws,” Butler told reporters after the game. “It’s just sad.”

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The night went from bad to worse for Golden State, who dropped to 10-10 with a loss against the Rockets. The superstar guard Steph Curry went down with an injury in the closing moments of the matchup. Butler and the rest of the Warriors know that Curry’s quad contusion could be a massive blow, but the problems run deeper.

“We need to do what we’re supposed to be out there doing as players,” Butler continued.

“I don’t care what Steve [Kerr] says. It’s not on him, and it’s not on the coaches. … They write everything up there for us to do, and they put us in the position to be successful. We go over the day before and the day of, we've got to go out there and execute, man. Don’t listen to Steve when he says, ‘This is on me, and I got to be better.’ Nah, it’s on the guys around this locker room.”

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The Warriors were out-rebounded on Wednesday. They turned the ball over six more times than the Rockets and committed six more fouls. While Golden State shot slightly better from the field and hit just one more three-pointer than the Rockets, they ended up losing the game by a four-point margin.

As a team that planned to be one of the most prominent contenders in the Western Conference, the Warriors are falling short of their expectations so far this season.

The 10-10 record places the Warriors eighth in the West, trailing the 10-8 Minnesota Timberwolves. The Portland Trail Blazers are the first team behind the Warriors, holding an 8-11 record.

It’s unclear where the Warriors will go from here, especially as they face major concerns regarding Steph Curry, but Butler’s honest assessment should be a wake-up call. The Warriors will be back on the court on Saturday night for a home matchup against the New Orleans Pelicans.

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