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 comeback win over Chicago. 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.
“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.
Butler operates in all the areas Curry rarely occupies. He can bully mismatches in the post, use his strength to finish inside and his mind to slow the game down and draw fouls. That third aspect is key; the Warriors won’t rank 26th in free throw rate for long now that Butler is on the team.
“Whether he either gets to the line or is finishing in the paint, he’s drawing attention,” Curry said. “If we’re decisive and organized, it’s hard to take away everything. I think the idea that he’s like the exact opposite player of me is kind of funny.”
Butler has never played with a player quite like Curry. Then again, no one is quite like Curry.
The gravity from Curry’s shooting threat will open up driving lanes for Butler. And Butler’s downhill threat should open up the perimeter for Curry.
Yin and yang.
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“They’re definitely completely opposite players, which is great for us,” Draymond Green said. “What Steph doesn’t do, Jimmy does all of it. And vice versa. Ultimately, as we play more together, it’ll create a team that can beat you in multiple different ways.”
Curry is at his best playing fast, in the open court. Butler opens up closed-off parts of a defense. Butler’s a bruiser, Curry is more finesse.
Against the Bulls, Butler’s presence invigorated the Warriors. Steve Kerr called him a “lion.” They already have championship pedigree, but he gives them a different type of swagger. He gives them belief that they can turn their season into something worthwhile.
He gives them a true secondary playmaker with Curry. And they’re not all so different, after all.
“You talk about a killer,” Butler said of Curry. “You talk about a lion. Somebody that wants to win. That’s going for the kill every time. That’s who he is, that’s who he’s been for a very long time.”
They’ve got that in common.
