CHICAGO — Steph Curry poured in 24 points in the third quarter, playing the entire period as the Warriors turned a 24-point deficit into a slim lead in a matter of minutes.
Then Jimmy Butler took over, scoring eight straight points and leading a 18-2 knockout blow.
Steph set it up, and Butler spiked it. Score one for the Warriors in the Jimmy Butler Era.
Butler and Curry combined for 59 points in a . After a slow start in which the wing and his new team had to feel each other out, they looked like a fully formed force: Butler dominating the paint and Curry firing from long range.
comeback win over Chicago“You know, they say opposites attract in a lot of ways in life,” Butler said postgame. “I don’t think I could be a better complement to him, and vice versa, in a sense that they’re not leaving him ever. Probably two people are never leaving him. So there’s so much space for everybody else. And I get the easy job, I’m playing in so much space.”
It took one game for Butler and Curry to discover how each could help each other, and by proxy they can help the Warriors achieve their goal of surging from 11th to sixth in the West. They’re essentially foils of each other, with skill sets that fill in each other’s gaps.
Butler took one 3-pointer in the game. Curry, the greatest shooter to ever live, took 16 and went 5-for-8 in a scorching third quarter.
Having a secondary creator next to him is a welcome development for Curry, who has faced constant double and triple teams this season as teammates invite his other four teammates on the floor to beat them. If they try the same strategy with Butler in the fold, he’ll make them pay.