Steve Kerr’s insight into Jimmy Butler’s late scratch against the Hornets

SAN FRANCISCO– Steve Kerr and the rest of The Golden State Warriors have revealed that Jimmy Butler is outliterally, right after the PA announcer finished introducing him and the other starters to the Chase Center crowd.

“Honestly, what happened was, after Jimmy was announced, somebody came up to me and told me he was out,” Kerr said after the game. “And we just looked around a little bit. Oh, there’s Will (Richard), we’re going with him.”

Butler was late before Golden State dominated the Charlotte Hornets for a 136-116 victory, and the star was ruled out of the game for “personal reasons” according to Warriors PR. Kerr didn’t specify the specific reasons why Butler didn’t play, but he made it clear everything is fine for a 15 year vet.

“I haven’t spoken to him, but I got a text from Mike that everything is fine,” Kerr said. “He had a personal problem that came up just before the game, but everything is fine.

The Dubs coach also said they don’t expect it to be a long-term thing that could keep Butler from moving forward. But given how the Warriors looked against the Hornets, with 10 players hitting 3-pointers for 23 three-pointers on the night, they were able to hold down the fort without him. They didn’t even need a good game from Stephen Curry, who finished with a quiet 14 points on 6-of-12 shooting.

The Warriors found their scoring in their depth. De’Anthony Melton led Golden State with 24 points on 8-of-16 from the field off the bench. Brandin Pod Ziemia added 16 points, six rebounds and seven assists, Al Horford he scored 11 points with a +20 plus/minus, and even Buddy Hield, who fell out of the rotation, scored 14 points.

How Golden State did without Jimmy Butler

Without Butler, what usually goes wrong is the minutes without Curry. With Kerr preferring to shake up Curry and Butler’s minutes so yes Butler can lead the second unitThe Warriors have been able to get minutes without Curry lately. But without Butler, the question for the Warriors was how the second unit would fare without him.

Well, the second unit held up well without Butler, thanks to Melton, Podziemski and Horford. Their scoring as well as their ability to space the floor kept Golden State’s offense humming without any of their driving engines. After the game, Melton explained what worked so well in those minutes despite the absence of Butler.

“Honestly, there hasn’t been too much of a change. We’ve just stayed aggressive,” Melton said. “Jimmy, when he’s out there, he’s always trying to give us confidence and attack and be aggressive and everything. So without him there, we just thought we had to make up for it.”

That unit won Golden State the game as Melton scored 13 points on a hot 4-of-6 third quarter shooting that put the Warriors up 18 late in the fourth quarter. Over the last 15 games, the Warriors have led the league in bench scoring with 49.1 per game. They are 11-4 in that stretch.

“With Melton and Al playing at the level they are, (it) just adds another dynamic to our game,” Kerr said. “Melt going downhill to the rim, getting help, now the ball is swinging. People are opening 3s. So both guys playing at such a high level has changed our team. The depth of our team right now is really our strength.”