Miami Heat star wing Jimmy Butler has been the single-best player in the NBA Playoffs thus far. He put the team on his back in an historic upset win over the top-seeded Milwaukee Bucks in the first round.
Butler also played a big role in Miami stealing Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals on the road against the New York Knicks.
Unfortunately, Buckets suffered an ankle injury late in the win on Sunday. After there were some optimistic reports on Butler’s availability for Game 2 Tuesday evening, the Heat have announced that he will have to sit this one out.
Miami does have some margin for error after taking home-court away from the Knicks in Game 1. But the loss of Butler is going to be absolutely massive in this one.
Jimmy Butler stats (2023 NBA Playoffs): 35.5 PPG, 6.8 RPG, 4.7 APG, 59% shooting
In addition to leading the Association in scoring during the NBA Playoffs, Butler has come up clutch on a never-ending loop. That included dropping 56 points in a Game 4 win over the Bucks.
Butler then went into Milwaukee and scored 42 points in Miami’s series-clinching Game 5 win. Said performance was highlighted by a game-tying bucket in the final seconds of regulation.
In addition to Jimmy Butler being sidelined Tuesday night, Miami is without third-leading scorer Tyler Herro for the remainder of the playoffs.
The onus is now going to be on Bam Adebayo and Max Strus to do their thing in order to avoid a 1-1 series tie heading back to Miami for Game 3.
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