Miami guard Jimmy Butler damage his proper knee on Wednesday within the Heat’s defeat towards the Philadelphia 76ers, leaving his availability for the Friday play-in finale towards the Chicago Bulls doubtful.
ESPN and The Athletic reported that Butler may need injured his medial collateral ligament.
Butler acknowledged after Miami’s 105-104 loss that he was headed for an MRI examination. He was injured when Philadelphia’s Kelly Oubre Jr. fell on him with 1.5 seconds to play within the first quarter.
“I fell, he landed and my knee just didn’t do well, I guess,” Butler mentioned. “I don’t know. It’s not a good feeling, I can tell you that.”
Butler received up from the collision and made 1 of two foul pictures, giving him seven factors on 2-of-4 capturing within the opening interval. He stayed within the recreation however completed 5-for-18 from the ground, scoring 19 factors in 40 minutes.
“It felt like I couldn’t do too much, which sucks with the timing of the game and everything,” Butler mentioned. “I hope that I’m fine. I hope that I wake up (Thursday) and can still stick and move. Right now, I can’t say that’s the case.”
After the loss at Philadelphia, the Heat head house to oppose the Bulls — one among Butler’s former groups. The winner of the latter contest will earn the Eastern Conference’s No. 8 seed and a date with the top-seeded Boston Celtics within the first spherical of the playoffs.
Butler, 34, averaged 20.8 factors, 5.3 rebounds and 5.0 assists over 60 video games within the just-concluded common season. The six-time All-Star has profession averages of 18.3 factors, 5.3 rebounds and 4.3 assists with the Bulls (2011-12 to 2016-17), the Minnesota Timberwolves (2017-18 to 2018-19), the 76ers (2018-19) and the Heat (2019-20 to current).
–Field Level Media/Reuters
Source: www.gmanetwork.com
