Warriors vs. Lakers recap: Jimmy Butler scores 31 in Opening Night win

LOS ANGELES – A little more than three hours before the Warriors tipped off their 2025-26 NBA regular season, Jimmy Butler called to his co-star on social media. No words needed, the two pictures on his Instagram story did all the talking. Jimmy Butler has released the Bat-Signal on his Instagram story Here we go. It’s that time again pic.twitter.com/UXaJ4doFe6 — Dalton Johnson (&commat;DaltonJ&lowbar;Johnson) October 21, 2025 Butler, or Robin as he began calling himself last season, put out the Bat-Signal for his Batman, Steph Curry, to be the hero the Warriors have needed for nearly two decades now. The next picture was an old-school cartoon version of characters with Robin right behind Batman. That’s what Butler has made most clear since was traded to the Warriors last February: Everything in the franchise is only possible because of Curry. But roles felt reversed Tuesday night in the Warriors’ season-opening 119-109 win against the Los Angeles Lakers at Cryto.com Arena from a powerfully dominant Butler performance. Not to the man himself, though. Was Butler the Warriors’ Batman in his first season opener with his not-so-new team? “No, no. Hell no,” Butler said to NBC Sports Bay Area walking off the podium after his postgame press conference. Butler was an efficient machine against the Lakers, scoring a team-high 31 points on 7-of-14 shooting. His first points of the night were from what’s usually foreign territory to him, the 3-point line, before soon finding his second home. He has a key and the password to every free-throw line at every arena around the NBA. Butler made himself comfortable there real quick to begin his 15th season and first full one as a Warrior.In the first quarter alone, Butler scored 12 points on only three shot attempts, going a perfect 7 of 7 on free throws. The trend continued throughout the night. Butler took 16 free throws in total. He didn’t miss once. The 16 free throws he made are the most ever by a Warrior in a season opener. Butler’s 31 points also are his most in a season opener, toppling his previous high of 24. He played 30 regular-season games with the Warriors last year and scored 30 points once. Never 31, though. “As soon as we got him, he provides that stability,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. “The ability to get fouled, go to the line and settle the game down. He never turns the ball over. He just controls the game out there for us and we need that. We’ve always been at our best when we can provide the support for Draymond [Green] and Steph’s chaos with some stability. It’s what Andre [Iguodala] and Shaun Livingston did because the chaos is really powerful, but it can also get away from us. “Jimmy just settles us down and I thought he did a great job of that tonight.”When heads dropped down, Butler brought them back up. When the ball was turned over, he reminded the Warriors about the preciousness of each possession. He wasn’t alone in leading the Warriors to a win, too. The first quarter belonged to Butler, and the second was back in the hands of Curry. Ignited from the antics of Marcus Smart, Curry after scoring three points in the first quarter dropped 11 in the second. He finished with 23 points on 6-of-14 shooting and was 3 of 9 from deep, but like Butler, he was perfect at the free-throw line, making all eight of his shots there. As always, the impact is larger. Curry was lethal as a screener for Jonathan Kuminga and changed the design of the court just by standing in the corner. “You always have to be aware of where Steph is on the floor,” Butler said. “Whether he’s a screener off the ball, on the ball, two people are going to be guarding him – maybe even three – at some point in time in any possession.” If Butler owned the first quarter and Curry the second, it was Kuminga’s time to do so coming out of halftime. The Warriors raced out to an 18-4 lead to open the third quarter, in which Kuminga scored nine points off three silky-smooth 3-pointers. Kuminga scored 13 points over nine minutes in the quarter while making all five of his shot attempts. Overall, Kuminga scored 17 points on 6-of-11 shooting and was 4 of 6 on threes. After being in the summer spotlight of a drawn out restricted free agency, Kuminga had perhaps the best overall performance of his career, adding nine rebounds and six assists. “[He’s] making all the right plays, shooting the ball whenever you’re open, attacking, passing the ball and guarding first and foremost. He’s got it. He’s got that thing that everybody else has, ‘What you need me to do, I’ll do it if it’s gonna help us win.’”The Warriors outscored the Lakers 35-25 in the third quarter and by nine points in the second half. Butler scored 14 points in the final two quarters, Kuminga scored 13, Buddy Hield scored 12 and Curry scored nine. Curry could keep his cape at home, at least for one night. To seal the win, however, it was Curry who let it fly and watched the ball tickle the net from 35 feet in the final minute, extending the Warriors’ lead to 10 points and sending Lakers fans to the exits. Nobody will make the mistake of questioning who the Warriors still run through. Certainly not Butler. Having a steady 1B to the Warriors’ 1A is only going to get them closer to the Warriors’ championship goal, and a number of teammates proved they’re ready for the next challenge thrown their way. Download and follow the Dubs Talk Podcast

Warriors vs. Lakers recap: Jimmy Butler scores 31 in Opening Night win

Trending News