In his two months with the Golden State Warriors, Jimmy Butler has seen up close how the franchise revolves around the greatness of Stephen Curry. He's also seen how opponents deploy physical defensive tactics to do everything possible to avoid one of Curry's trademark 3-point bombardments.
On Sunday, the Houston Rockets gave any potential postseason opponent the blueprint to beat Golden State. The Rockets used their athleticism and length to limit Curry to just three points on 1-for-10 shooting in a 106-96 road win against the Warriors.
When asked about Houston's defensive performance on Curry, Butler complimented the Rockets — sort of.
"They did a good job of, uh, whatever you want to call it," Butler told reporters.
When asked to elaborate, Butler basically had a problem with the way Houston was allowed to get physical with Curry.
"I've never seen an individual get fouled more than he gets fouled," Butler said. "To me, I think that's astounding. But, you know, it's crazy to say, but he's used to it. It's been happening to him his whole career, and he's found a way through it, around it, under it, whatever you want to call it. That's tough."
"I'm pretty sure it's been happening for 16 straight years," Butler added. "I get to see it (now), and it really angers me that he's on my team and he gets hacked like that."
Butler's biggest beef is with the way teams are allowed to limit Curry's off-ball movement, which puts constant pressure on defenses and creates clean looks at the basket for Golden State.
The incredulousness of Butler was relayed to Curry about the lack of foul calls he receives. The 37-year-old face of the Warriors franchise agreed with Butler's assessment that it's hardly a new development.
"I don't ever expect to get calls. I don't ever go in looking for them," Curry said. "I try to play basketball. I try to play the way I do every night and battle the physicality or whatever. If I need to say something (to the referees), I'll say something."
With the NBA's fourth-best defensive rating (109.4 points per 100 possessions), Houston presented a tough task for a Golden State squad riding a five-game win streak and a red-hot Curry, who had totaled 125 points in the team's last three victories against the Memphis Grizzlies, Los Angeles Lakers and Denver Nuggets.
Dillon Brooks and Amen Thompson led a physical Rockets defense that smothered Curry's every move. At halftime, Curry had only three points on 1-of-3 shooting, all 3-pointers under duress.
At one point, a frustrated Curry exchanged words with Houston head coach Ime Udoka, who's well aware of the damage a free-wheeling Curry can do. Udoka coached the Boston Celtics in the 2022 NBA Finals, which the Warriors won in six games behind their series MVP — Curry.
"I was talking to my team about the physicality. This is the type of game we like. This is who we are," Udoka said. "He said something. I said something. .... A little friendly banter."
Golden State head coach Steve Kerr credited the Rockets for doing a "great job defensively." He also said Curry was bound to have an off night.
“There’s just games where you don’t have it," Kerr explained. "Every player, no matter how good you are. So Steph didn’t have it tonight."
