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LOS ANGELES -- Golden State Warriors stars Jimmy Butler III and Stephen Curry were in the starting lineup Friday night against the Denver Nuggets after being questionable with injuries. Butler suffered a left forearm strain and Curry took a fall on his tailbone in Thursday night's 123-116 win over the Los Angeles Lakers. Butler's injury came in the third quarter, but he was able to return and play the entire fourth, finishing with 11 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists and 3 steals. His return helped the Warriors close out their fourth consecutive win, with seven of his points coming in the final 12 minutes. "Part of the game [is] getting nicked up a little bit," Butler said after Thursday's game. "I hope that I'm going to be all right, though, so we'll see tomorrow." "Jimmy's tough as hell, and we needed him to come back in to close that game up," Golden State power forward Draymond Green said Thursday night. "He came back, and he was exactly who he's been and who we needed him to be." Curry, who has been playing with a pelvic contusion that cost him two games recently, shook off his tailbone injury and finished with 37 points against the Lakers. He said that he should be fine and that the bigger issue is wearing a protective pad on his back, which he expects he'll have to do for the remainder of the Warriors' season. The Warriors (45-31) entered Friday in fifth place in the Western Conference standings, but 1½ games back of third-place Denver with six games remaining in the season.
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