Butler returns from 1-game absence to play for Warriors in Game 4 of playoff series against Rockets

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — With Jimmy Butler's tailbone still hurting at the end, he came through in remarkable fashion and in every which way despite all the pain.

The Golden State star returned from a one-game absence and rejoined the starting lineup Monday night for a 109-106 Game 4 Warriors victory in their first-round series against the Houston Rockets, limping at times as he led his team one win away from advancing to the Western Conference semifinals.

“More than anything I just wanted to play. This is the best time of the year for everybody, this is why you go through what you go through,” Butler said. “So to be able to miss a game, I don't like it, but I’m back, I'm back in a big way.”

Butler contributed 27 points, six assists, five rebounds, blocked a shot and converted all 12 of his free throws while playing 40 minutes, less than a week after he sustained a pelvic contusion in a frightening fall early in Game 2 last Wednesday.

He converted three free throws with 58.7 seconds left, grabbed the game-clinching rebound with 4 seconds to go and then made two more free throws.

“Tonight was great. He played through the injury, it was beautiful,” teammate Draymond Green said. “But it’s just his presence. What his presence does for this team is humongous. The first three quarters, he couldn’t move. Not sure how he started moving in the fourth quarter, but first three quarters he couldn’t move. Yet he never complained. He stuck with it.”

Butler participated in the morning shootaround earlier in the day and just needed to have a successful warmup to be deemed good to go.

“I thought it was winning time,” Butler said of his play down the stretch, thrilled he began to “move a little bit better.”

Butler played just more than five minutes during his initial stretch and nearly 18 minutes by halftime in a heated game delayed twice in the second quarter by skirmishes that featured four technical fouls and a flagrant 1.

On Sunday, when Butler spent much of the day working with the medical staff, Kerr said Vice President of Player Health and Performance Rick Celebrini couldn't predict how many minutes Butler's body might be able to handle until he's actually back out on the floor in live action.

He said he’s still in “a lot of pain, I’m not going to lie to you.”

“It's a good pain when it's all toward winning. I feel like they got me here to help do something special and if I'm out there on the floor I'm expected to produce and help win, so I'm glad I was able to do that tonight," he said. “... Today I woke up and I was good enough so I was able to go out there and compete.”

The star forward underwent an MRI exam on Thursday in the Bay Area that revealed he injured his pelvis and has a deep gluteal muscle contusion. The Warriors lead the best-of-seven series 3-1 and can clinch the first round when the series resumes Wednesday in Houston.

Golden State won 104-93 on Saturday without Butler. With Butler back, Kerr hoped to be able to rest Curry more regularly — but he still played 39 minutes.

Butler went down hard when fouled by Amen Thompson late in the first quarter and then missed the rest of the Warriors’ 109-94 Game 2 loss Wednesday.

Butler tried to secure a rebound when Thompson undercut him and sent the Warriors star’s feet high into the air so that he came down straight onto his tailbone. Both players thudded to the floor and Butler grimaced in pain grabbing at his backside. He stayed in briefly to shoot two free throws before going to the locker room.

Stephen Curry has had the same injury multiple times.

“Injuries are tough, especially in the playoffs, but for him to gut through in the first half and get the wheels going and then get turned up second half both ends of the floor, it's why he is who he is and why he means so much to us," Curry said. “So it was a gutty performance for sure.”

In the Game 1 win against the Rockets, he had 25 points on 10-for-19 shooting, seven rebounds, six assists and five steals in 42 minutes of action. The Warriors are 27-9 since Butler made his debut at Chicago on Feb. 8, including 23-8 in the regular season, a play-in tournament win over Memphis and the games facing Houston.

The Warriors know how much they will need Butler if they want to make a deep postseason run.

“We had to have him. If this were the regular season he’d probably miss another week or two,” coach Steve Kerr said. “But it's the playoffs, he’s Jimmy Butler, so this is what he does. The rebound at the end was just incredible, the elevation, the force then of course knocking down the free throws to clinch it. Jimmy was just amazing.”

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Golden State Warriors forward Jimmy Butler III (10) rebounds the ball next to Houston Rockets center Steven Adams, rear, during the second half of Game 4 of an NBA basketball first-round playoff series Monday, April 28, 2025, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)

Golden State Warriors forward Jimmy Butler III (10) rebounds the ball next to Houston Rockets center Steven Adams, rear, during the second half of Game 4 of an NBA basketball first-round playoff series Monday, April 28, 2025, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)

Golden State Warriors forward Jimmy Butler III (10) moves the ball while defended by Houston Rockets center Alperen Sengun (28) during the first half of Game 4 of an NBA basketball first-round playoff series Monday, April 28, 2025, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)

Golden State Warriors forward Jimmy Butler III (10) shoots over Houston Rockets center Alperen Sengun (28) during the first half of Game 4 of an NBA basketball first-round playoff series Monday, April 28, 2025, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)

Houston Rockets forward Dillon Brooks (9) defends against Golden State Warriors forward Jimmy Butler III (10) during the first half of Game 2 of an NBA basketball first-round playoff series against the Houston Rockets in Houston, Wednesday, April 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Karen Warren)

Golden State Warriors' Jimmy Butler III falls towards the court after being fouled by Houston Rockets' Amen Thompson in 1st quarter of Game 2 of First Round of NBA Playoffs in Houston, Texas on Wednesday, April 23, 2025. (Scott Strazzante/San Francisco Chronicle via AP)

Golden State Warriors guard Buddy Hield (7) checks on forward Jimmy Butler III (10) after a collision with Houston Rockets' Amen Thompson under the basket during the first half of Game 2 of an NBA basketball first-round playoff series against the Houston Rockets in Houston, Wednesday, April 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Karen Warren)

Golden State Warriors' Jimmy Butler III writhes in pain after injuring himself in 1st quarter against Houston Rockets in Game 2 of First Round of NBA Playoffs at Toyota Center in Houston, Texas on Wednesday, April 23, 2025. (Scott Strazzante/San Francisco Chronicle via AP)

Golden State Warriors' Jimmy Butler III writhes in pain after injuring himself in 1st quarter against Houston Rockets in Game 2 of First Round of NBA Playoffs at Toyota Center in Houston, Texas on Wednesday, April 23, 2025. (Scott Strazzante/San Francisco Chronicle via AP)

Injured Golden State Warriors forward Jimmy Butler III, middle, reacts from the bench during the first half of Game 3 of an NBA basketball first-round playoff series against the Houston Rockets in San Francisco, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry, foreground, celebrates with injured forward Jimmy Butler III after Game 3 of an NBA basketball first-round playoff series against the Houston Rockets in San Francisco, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

Injured Golden State Warriors forward Jimmy Butler III walks on the floor after Game 3 of an NBA basketball first-round playoff series against the Houston Rockets in San Francisco, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

Two former attorneys and an aide who all worked on President Donald Trump’s 2020 campaign were scheduled to appear Monday for a preliminary hearing in Wisconsin on felony forgery charges related to a fake elector scheme.

The Wisconsin case is moving forward even as others in the battleground states of Michigan and Georgia have faltered. A special prosecutor last year dropped a federal case alleging Trump conspired to overturn the 2020 election. Another case in Nevada is still alive.

The hearing comes a week after Trump attorney Jim Troupis, one of the three who were charged, tried unsuccessfully to get the judge to step down in the case and have it moved to another county. Troupis, who served one year as a judge in the same county where he was charged, also alleged that all of the judges in Dane County are biased against him and he can’t get a fair trial.

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President Donald Trump talks to reporters as arrives on the South Lawn of the White House, Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025, after attending the Army-Navy game. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

President Donald Trump talks to reporters as he departs from the South Lawn of the White House, Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025, in Washington, en route to Baltimore to attend the Army-Navy football game. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)