Current:Home > StocksHeat star Jimmy Butler has sprained ligament in knee, will be sidelined several weeks-InfoLens
Heat star Jimmy Butler has sprained ligament in knee, will be sidelined several weeks
View Date:2024-12-23 16:46:33
MIAMI (AP) — The results are in: Jimmy Butler is out.
Butler will not be able to play for the Miami Heat in a win-or-else game on Friday night against the Chicago Bulls in the NBA’s play-in tournament because of a right knee injury, one that will sideline him for several weeks.
An MRI exam on Thursday showed that he sprained the MCL ligament, an injury that typically takes at least four weeks or more to heal.
That means if Miami wins Friday, it still won’t have Butler for a Round 1 playoff matchup with the Boston Celtics — a daunting matchup even if Butler was healthy. Boston, the top playoff overall seed, finished 18 games ahead of Miami and went 3-0 against the Heat in the regular season.
“We will do this the hard way,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said in Philadelphia on Wednesday night, when Butler played most of the game after getting hurt and Miami lost 105-104 — missing out on a chance to be the No. 7 seed in the East. “That has to be the path right now.”
The path gets much harder now for the reigning Eastern Conference champions.
Butler was injured in the first quarter of the game in Philadelphia, grabbing at the knee in obvious pain and limping throughout the remainder of the contest — but staying in the game most of the way. He played 40 minutes, finishing with 19 points, four rebounds, five assists and five steals.
His mobility appeared to get worse as the game went along, and Spoelstra said postgame that Butler’s knee kept getting stiffer and stiffer. Butler was 2 for 4 from the floor when he got hurt — then just 3 for 14 in the remainder of the game.
“I thought the adrenaline would kick back in and I’d be able to move,” Butler said after the game. “And it just wasn’t the case. I wasn’t able to do anything on either side of the ball and I think I hurt us more than I helped us, actually.”
Butler’s absence on Friday will only add to serious injury issues for the Heat.
Miami has been without starting point guard Terry Rozier for two weeks because of a neck injury, and will play without him again on Friday. Shooting guard Duncan Robinson has missed 10 of Miami’s last 15 games with a back problem, and in the five games he did play in that stretch he was clearly affected — shooting only 6 for 26 (23%) from 3-point range. For his career, he’s a 40% shooter from beyond the arc.
“We’ve had experience with that,” Heat center Bam Adebayo said of playing shorthanded. “The biggest thing for us is to rally around each other and get the W.”
___
AP NBA: https://apnews.com/NBA
veryGood! (8)
Related
- Krispy Kreme is giving free dozens to early customers on World Kindness Day
- Severe turbulence during Singapore Airlines flight leaves several people badly injured. One man died
- The Skinny Confidential Just Launched A Mini Version Of Its Cult-Fave Ice Roller, & We're Obsessed
- Inside Carolyn Bessette's Final Days: Heartbreaking Revelations About Her Life With John F. Kennedy Jr.
- The results are in: Peanut the Squirrel did not have rabies, county official says
- Memorial Day weekend 2024 could break travel records. Here's what to know.
- Who replaces Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi and what happens next?
- Michael Strahan Shares Sweet Video of Daughter Isabella Amid Her Cancer Battle
- Early Black Friday Deals: 70% Off Apple, Dyson, Tarte, Barefoot Dreams, Le Creuset & More + Free Shipping
- Jamie Lynn Spears' Daughter Ivey Graduates Kindergarten in Adorable Photo With Big Sis Maddie
Ranking
- Cavaliers' Darius Garland rediscovers joy for basketball under new coach
- Climber's body found on Mount Denali in Alaska, North America's tallest
- Bachelor Nation's Rachel Nance Details Receiving Racist Comments on Social Media
- Untangling Zac Brown and Kelly Yazdi’s Brief Marriage and Complicated Breakup
- Halle Berry surprises crowd in iconic 2002 Elie Saab gown from her historic Oscar win
- ICC prosecutor applies for arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Hamas leaders
- The Skinny Confidential Just Launched A Mini Version Of Its Cult-Fave Ice Roller, & We're Obsessed
- Horoscopes Today, May 20, 2024
Recommendation
-
The charming Russian scene-stealers of 'Anora' are also real-life best friends
-
North Carolina court throws out conviction of man with guns inside car on campus
-
Ivan Boesky, notorious trader who served time for insider trading, dead at 87
-
Coach John Harbaugh launches family legacy project: `It’s about my dad,’ Jim Harbaugh said
-
Prosecutor failed to show that Musk’s $1M-a-day sweepstakes was an illegal lottery, judge says
-
Rare $400 Rubyglow pineapple was introduced to the US this month. It already sold out.
-
Hearing to determine if Missouri man who has been in prison for 33 years was wrongfully convicted
-
Progressive prosecutor in Portland, Oregon, seeks to fend off tough-on-crime challenger in DA race