Jimmy Butler III ruled out for Game 3

A brutal blow.

The Golden State Warriors have quite an uphill battle as they prepare to face the Houston Rockets in Game 3 of their Western Conference Playoffs first round series. About an hour before Saturday’s scheduled tip-off, ESPN’s Shams Charania reported that All-Star forward Jimmy Butler III will not play in Game 3, as he deals with a pelvic contusion sustained in the first quarter of Wednesday’s Game 2.

Butler sustained the injury after getting accidentally undercut while in air on Wednesday, and landing flat on his back and tailbone. He gingerly left the game, and in the second quarter was ruled out for the rest of the contest. An MRI on Thursday revealed a deep glute muscle contusion, and made Butler questionable for tonight’s game. On Friday, coach Steve Kerr expressed some cautious optimism that Butler would be able to play. One report on Saturday suggested that Butler would, indeed, be able to play. Unfortunately, that report proved erroneous.

Charania also reports that fourth-year forward Jonathan Kuminga will start in Butler’s place. Kuminga had fallen out of the Warriors rotation in recent games, but re-entered the fray on Wednesday after Butler’s injury. His athleticism, isolation scoring, transition attacking, and versatile defensive abilities will be pivotal as the Warriors hope to take a series lead absent their second-best player. Kuminga did play very well against the Rockets during the regular season this year.

Game 4 of the series is Monday night, so hopefully an additional few days of rest will have Butler able to play.

You can watch tonight’s game on ABC at 5:30 p.m. PT.