With the Wolves in the thick of a Western Conference playoff race that we haven’t seen in more than a decade, Jimmy Butler came back just in time.
After being out since late February with a meniscal injury in his right knee, the All-Star returned on Friday night against the Lakers in Los Angeles.
It’s tough to say a player who played just 22 minutes in a game led a team to victory. But Butler led the Wolves to the 113-96 win, improving to 45-35, eighth in the West (the Wolves could move as high as sixth after Saturday’s games).
Here are three takeaways from Butler’s return:
The Defense Is Still There
As if there were any question . . .
Butler was a bit rusty (he credited that to his 4-for-8 night at the free-throw line), but that’s expected when you miss more than a month.
The one thing the Wolves needed more than anything from Butler was his toughness and his defense, and hot diggity, they got it.
Butler finished with four steals in the game.
This one was a complete gimme (thanks Julius Randle).
We got a heavy dose of vintage Butler, like on this play where he doubles from the backside unknowingly to Alex Caruso or Brook Lopez.
If the Wolves are going to make the playoffs, and make some noise there, they’ll need more of this. Not just from Butler, but from everyone.
Butler Leads Second-Half Run
The Wolves trailed by six points at halftime despite Butler’s return, but the team outscored the Lakers 29-15 in the third and 33-23 in the fourth to wrap up what’s probably the team’s biggest win of the season.
Who led that explosion?
Well, given who this article is about, you can probably guess.
Butler drilled a fadeaway after a Lakers turnover to start the quarter. Three minutes later he threw down an alley-oop from Jeff Teague plus the foul.
“Jimmy set the tone for (the second-half run),” Wolves coach Tom Thibodeau said after the game. “ . . . If you look at the game, the plays in the third quarter - in traffic, playing through contact - those are the things you need to do to win. There’s a physicality to this. If you play soft, the results are not going to be good. You have to play with great intensity. You have to play with a physicality and an intelligence. You can’t recklessly whack guys, that’s how you get into foul trouble.”
What Can We Expect From His Minutes Moving Forward?
Butler played 22 minutes and 35 seconds in the game, about 14 minutes fewer than his season average.
I’m sure Butler is probably a little sore today conditioning wise, but he showed no signs of favoring his other knee, which is a great sign for Wolves fans. The team has Saturday off before a possible practice on Sunday.
I’d imagine Butler’s minutes will stagger around where they were on Friday night, with maybe a few more, in Monday’s game against Memphis and Wednesday’s game against Denver to close the season.
Of course, everything could change depending on playoff position. If the Wolves win Monday and clinch a playoff spot (if Denver were to lose Saturday to the Clippers and later Monday night to Portland), who knows how the team will manage things on Wednesday night?
While it wasn’t a complete game from Butler, it was a complete performance. He finished with 18 points to go with those four steals, two rebounds and an assist while shooting 7-for-10 from the field.
You don’t know what you got until it’s gone, and the Wolves found out just how much they missed Butler when he was gone.
“It felt good. It feels like Jimmy [Butler] is that one piece that helps everybody be where they are supposed to be,” Taj Gibson said after the game. “I felt defensively, it helps us a lot. It is just good to get back to the old ways.”
Welcome back, Jimmy.