Everything that can go wrong in Jimmy Butler’s prolonged potential absence for Warriors vs Rockets 

Jimmy Butler's hard fall early in Game 2 between the Golden State Warriors and the Houston Rockets could prove to be one of the biggest moments in the first round of the NBA postseason. He left the game after suffering a pelvis contusion after playing just eight minutes. His absence was felt by the Warriors, who went on to lose the game 109-94.

Butler gave the Warriors a new burst of energy when he joined the team just before the trade deadline in February. The Warriors have been one of the best teams in the league since he joined them, helping Draymond Green and Steph Curry return to their championship level of play entering the postseason.

Jimmy Butler played nonchalantly as a scorer for the majority of his tenure with the Warriors, but since their regular season finale against the Los Angeles Clippers, he has emerged as the secondary scorer the Golden State Warriors were searching for. If his injury keeps him out of multiple games, winning their series against the Houston Rockets has become much more difficult for Golden State.

Jimmy Butler's absence allows Houston to focus on Steph Curry

One of the positives of Jimmy Butler's arrival in Golden State was the fact that opposing defenses were no long able to focus all of their efforts on stopping the two time NBA MVP. Butler provided the team a secondary option who could take advantage of defenses obsessed with slowing Curry down. Without him, though, the Warriors face the same problem they did for the first half of the season.

In the first game of the series, as well as the eight minutes that Jimmy Butler played in Game 2, the Houston Rockets put Amen Thompson on Curry and Dillon Brooks was assigned to Butler. Without him on the court for Golden State, Brooks is able to give more help to Thompson, leaving less space for Curry to operate in offensively.

Golden State head coach Steve Kerr has done an excellent job of adapting his offense to incorporate Butler and Curry at the same time. Not having Butler means that he will need to lean even more on his All-NBA point guard as the series continues. Doing so increases the chances of Curry being worn out, giving the clear advantage to the much younger and athletic Rockets.

Without Butler, the Warriors can't match the Rockets physically

Entering the series, one of the Rockets' biggest advantages was their size and their willingness to crash the glass on both ends of the floor. Alperen Sengun has dominated the on the boards through two games and Houston has played a rough style of game against the Warriors, who operate much more fluidly on both ends of the floor.

Not having Jimmy Butler on the floor means that Golden State is lacking one of their enforcers moving forward. Butler brought a different attitude to the Warriors' playstyle, willing to do the dirty work for his team in order to lead them to wins. Draymond Green, the Warriors do-it-all defender, has applauded Butler's old-school style of play, saying that it is just what the team needs.

Green will now be expected to take up his mantle as the Warriors' most physical player as well as their lead defender without Butler. Not having their point-of-attack defender available to keep Jalen Green in check is dangerous for Golden State, who saw the young star drop 38 points in a Game 2 win for Houston.

Jonathan Kuminga can't fully replace Butler's impact

When Jimmy Butler went down, Steve Kerr didn't have a lot of choices when it came to who he could turn to in order to fill Butler's shoes. He ended up deciding to play Jonathan Kuminga for the first time in nearly two weeks after sitting him for the regular season finale and the Warriors' play-in game.

Kuminga didn't play poorly compared to his usual standards, scoring 11 points in 26 minutes, but his play is a far cry from what Butler brings to the table. In Game 1, Butler set the tone early for Golden State, getting his team off to a strong start offensively while shutting Green down on the defensive end. His 25 points helped the Warriors keep the game close until Steph Curry secured the win.

While Kuminga can expect to receive more minutes if Jimmy Butler's injury keeps him out of Game 3 or beyond, he will need to step his game up in order to pick up the former All-Star's slack. More importantly than anything else, his defense against Jalen Green needs to be much better if the Warriors want any chance of stealing a game before Butler returns.

Butler's absence could spell doom for Golden State

Jimmy Butler is one of the toughest players in the NBA, and he told Steve Kerr that he was fine when he left the court in Game 2, but the team is still unsure about how serious the injury is. Even though the series is shifting over to the Bay Area of Games 3 and 4, the Warriors will face an uphill battle without Butler.

If the worst case scenario becomes the Warriors' reality and Jimmy Butler is out for both games in San Francisco, the series could be all but over once he returns. A 3-1 deficit is nearly insurmountable in the NBA playoffs, leaving Butler's team at a massive disadvantage. The Warriors have been on both ends of a 3-1 comeback, but in both series, the team that won was fully healthy.

The series is far from over and for now, the Warriors have the upper hand when it comes to home-court advantage, but they desperately need to find a way to escape with at least one win while at home in order to stand a chance in the matchup. As they have done for the majority of the year, Golden State needs to tread water until their star comes back and leads them to victory.