As the Golden State Warriors head back to the Bay Area for Game 3 of their first-round matchup against the Houston Rockets, the team sits in an exceedingly precarious position.
In Game 2, the Warriors were largely missing two pivotal starters: Jimmy Butler, who suffered apelvic contusion in the first half, and Brandin Podziemski, who was suffering from flu-like symptoms and had limited minutes throughout the night.
These were the largest factors in Golden State's loss, 109-94, and, as the team prepares to try and take back their series lead, it is certain that they have been reminded of an issue they encountered in the Kevin Durant era
The Warriors might lack the depth to go the distance
After Butler was inadvertently under-cut by Rockets forward Amen Thompson in Game 2, the Warriors offense looked dreadfully stagnant. Although Curry posted 20 points, his three-point shot was off-kilter the whole night.
Moreover, almost none of Golden State's bench players stepped up to the challenge. Jonathan Kuminga saw his return to the rotation but was only able to post a disappointing 11 points in 26 minutes.
Gui Santos, Gary Payton II and Buddy Hield combined for only 8 points on the night.
Throughout the game, the Warriors failed to grab rebounds, control the ball and bring the requisite intensity against the swarming Houston defense.
While Golden State has been one of the best teams on both ends of the floor since their acquisition of Butler, they are highly dependent upon their star duo of Butler in order to keep them in games and hold their leads.
Since Butler's arrival to the Warriors, the team is 1-3 in games that either Butler or Curry have missed.
Therefore, Golden State has seen, yet again, that building a big three ultimately results in a lack of depth on the roster.
During the 2019 playoffs, then-Warrior Durant missed most of the playoffs with both a calf strain and his infamous Achilles tear, which threatened to end his career. While the Warriors made the finals that year, they ultimately did not have enough juice to beat the Kawhi Leonard-led Toronto Raptors.
Now, Golden State is facing the prospect of Butler's injury extending his absence through multiple games in this series and are in serious trouble if he cannot return quickly.
While the team has quite a few perimeter shooters, almost none of them are fully reliable outside of Curry, and, apart from Butler, they do not have a true interior or mid-range presence either.
While this is something that can perhaps be addressed this offseason, the Warriors need to win now, and, to do that, they need Butler back.