Potentially important news in the Eastern Conference, as Jimmy Butler went down last night while playing the Golden State Warriors and ultimately had to be helped off the floor. The Miami Heat lost the game 115-108, and now the question is whether they also lost Butler for an extended period of time.
Butler, 32, went down after turning his right ankle, the same ankle that has cost him some games already earlier this year. He had to be helped off the court:
Jimmy Butler was helped off of the court after an apparent right ankle injury.
Hoping for a speedy recovery 🙏 pic.twitter.com/8NcgmqKXdz
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) January 4, 2022
You can tell Butler was in serious pain, and couldn’t put any weight on the ankle. You don’t want to see that for anyone, and especially not an old friend.
Hopefully the injury isn’t as serious as it seemed. His coach, Erik Spoelstra, said after the game: “He turned it. If you talk to Jimmy right now, he says he’s fine. We will have to evaluate it and see how he feels.” Ankles can be crappy when it comes to re-injury, though.
The Heat are currently 23-15, 4th in the East and 3.5 games back of the Bulls. The Bulls don’t face the Heat again until late February.