We know just how important Jimmy Butler is to the success of the Miami Heat. The future Hall of Famer played elite-level basketball in leading them to a surprise appearance in the NBA Finals a season ago.
With the No. 8 Heat taking on a seventh-seeded Philadelphia 76ers in the NBA Play-In Tournament Wednesday evening, the hope was that Butler would continue his postseason ways.
This happened relatively early on with Butler scoring six first-quarter points. Unfortunately, he went down in a ton of pain early in the opening stanza after landing awkwardly on his right knee following a lay-up attempt. It was not a great scene in Philadelphia.
Butler stayed down on the court for several minutes before ultimately hitting the charity stripe for free throws.
It must be noted that players are unable to return to a game if they can’t shoot free throws. We saw this play out in the 2019 NBA Finals when Golden State Warriors star Klay Thompson remained in the game to shoot free throws after suffering a knee injury that was ultimately diagnosed as a torn ACL.
As for Butler, he remained in the game for the opening of the second quarter. The wing was still obviously hobbling at that point. But he was not about to come out.
Related: 2024 NBA Playoff and Finals predictions
Jimmy Butler stats (2023-24): 20.8 PPG, 5.3 RPG, 5.0 APG, 41% shooting
It’s absolutely stunning that Butler was able to remain in this all-important game given the pain he was in after initially going down.
This just goes to show us how tough Jimmy Buckets has been throughout his career. Whether this has an impact on his performance Wednesday and potentially moving forward in the NBA Playoffs remains to be seen.
If Miami wins, it will take on the New York Knicks in the first round of the Eastern Conference Playoffs starting the weekend. A loss would set up a do-or-die matchup with the winner of the Atlanta Hawks and Chicago Bulls Friday night.