While with the Miami Heat, Jimmy Butler helped lead the team to two Finals appearances. Now with the Golden State Warriors, Butler needs to elevate his game to avoid elimination this postseason.

Teams losing key players during the NBA playoffs is not uncommon. But it still hurts each time someone goes down.

The star power is gone in some cases, aching in others, and there's no question that injuries are becoming the story of this postseason. For Lillard — and now possibly Tatum, depending on what the MRI and other exams show — injuries could be part of the story next season as well.

The Golden State Warriors faced the Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday for Game 4 of their second-round series in the 2025 NBA playoffs without their best player.

Jayson Tatum's torn Achilles tendon, without hyperbole, is among the most consequential injuries in NBA history. Kevin Durant comes to mind as a similarly gifted player to suffer such an injury, but he was almost 31 when he went down in the 2019 NBA Finals.

Draymond Green and Jimmy Butler were unable to find a way to win without Stephen Curry. Unless the superstar point guard can make his way back to the court in Game 5 from the strained hamstring he has been dealing with, it's very possible that Golden State will be heading home.