The Warriors are 21-5 in the 26 games since Butler's debut. They have moved up to fifth in the Western Conference standings, tied with Denver in the loss column for the No. 4 seed, and just one game behind the Los Angeles Lakers at three.

We're only going to get so many more of these entertaining showdowns between Stephen Curry and LeBron James. We need to savor them. Although we could get six or seven more in the first round of the West playoffs in a 4/5 matchup — and if Thursday night was any indication,

Stephen Curry scored 37 points and Brandin Podziemski added 28 with a career-high eight 3-pointers as visiting the Golden State Warriors gained a game on the Los Angeles Lakers in the Western Conference playoff race with a 123-116 win on Thursday night.