Jimmy Butler has come to the defense of Steph Curry after it was decided he would rest against the Bucks on Tuesday night.
“I’m not going to say [Curry is] wearing down, but it’s OK to be tired,” Butler told reporters following Monday’s 114-105 loss to a Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray and Christian Braun-less Nuggets team at Chase Center. “That’s on myself, and that’s on us as a unit to pick up the slack for him. As [much as] everybody wants to think he’s superhuman, he is not. He is our leader and we must protect him at all times.”
Warriors coach Steve Kerr was told the media his star point guard was “exhausted” after Curry shot 6-21 and to finish the night with 20 points, plus seven assists and seven turnovers.
“He’s exhausted right now,” Kerr said. “So, we’ve got to absolutely consider giving him a night and getting him rejuvenated for the sake of him and the remainder of our games. I think he’s been tired the last few games, and so we’ve got to find a way to get him his juice back.”
Curry didn’t want to admit that a rest is probably a good idea, but did mention a lower back strain he’d been managing since Thursday’s warmups.
“I feel fine,” Curry said. “Obviously, I didn’t play great at all, so everybody’s — including coach — … going to try to figure out why, and mostly the turnovers, dumb plays all night. But [we] had a really good run. You expect to have a level of consistency and whatnot, so when it doesn’t happen becomes a question.
“I feel like [it is] more so my back when I was dealing with the last couple of days, see how that responds, but otherwise feel pretty solid.”
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