NEWSLETTER
The Miami Heat announced Thursday afternoon that Jimmy Butler will officially miss Friday night’s do-or-die matchup with the Chicago Bulls.
The announcement comes after Butler suffered a knee injury during the first quarter of the 7v8 Play-In game against the Philadelphia 76ers. The Heat’s star player would ultimately stay in the game, but news quickly broke after their 105-104 loss that Butler suffered an MCL injury. Miami has now confirmed as much, ruling him out.
Terry Rozier also remains out with a neck injury. The Heat’s mid-season acquisition from the Charlotte Hornets has missed five straight games.
I mean, it’s blatantly obvious for me to say this is a MASSIVE break for the Chicago Bulls. A loss would only sting that much more knowing Miami is without two of their go-to scoring options. But we’ve also seen Chicago screw up these opportunities plenty of times before. Not to mention, if there is one thing we know about Erik Spoelstra, it’s that he’ll have something up his sleeve to make this harder than it needs to be.
For more on Butler’s injury, you can see our original post from Wednesday night below.
The Miami Heat have some serious concerns after their Play-In Tournament loss to the Philadelphia 76ers on Wednesday night.
According to The Athletic’s Shams Charania, Jimmy Butler is “feared” to have suffered an MCL injury in his knee. An MRI is incoming, but the issue could sideline him for the foreseeable future.
The news comes just two days before the Heat will take on the winner of the 9v10 Play-In game between the Bulls and Hawks. Of course, the winner of that game will then advance to the postseason as the No. 8 seed and face the Boston Celtics.
While we can’t put anything past the Heat and head coach Erik Spoelstra, there is no question that losing Butler would be a MAJOR blow to the team’s postseason chances. Few players have been more clutch under the spotlight than Butler, who served as the catalyst for leading the 8-seeded Heat all the way to the NBA Finals last season.
Now, for what it’s worth, the Heat have kept their hard-nosed identity with or without Jimmy Butler this season. In games where he wasn’t able to suit up, the team had a 13-9 record. Still, this will be a huge storyline to follow over the next 24 hours. And it might also give either the Hawks or Bulls some hope.
