Without Jimmy Butler in the mix on Sunday, the Miami Heat were blown out in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Playoff serie s against the Boston Celtics.
Miami could not get anything going. The team was down 32 points through three quarters. Tyler Herro (4-of-13 shooting) came up small when it counted the most.
Unfortunately, it now looks like Miami will not have Butler in the mix for the remainder of the series. The star wing suffered a sprained MCL in the Heat’s opening loss to his former Philadelphia 76ers in the NBA Play-In Tournament last week.
Butler played three quarters with the injury, but was not able to suit up the next game against the Chicago Bulls due to the injury.
We now have more information on Butler’s status moving forward. According to Shams Charania of The Athletic, Butler will not play in the remainder of this first-round playoff series.
“It’s crazy to me that Jimmy Butler played 3 quarters with what I’m hearing now was a severe MCL sprain. He is not going to be back in this series,” report on Butler situation.
Jimmy Butler stats (2023-24): 20.8 PPG, 5.3 RPG, 5.0 APG, 50% shooting
Miami was already up against it taking on a Celtics team that won 64 regular-season games. With Butler now out for the duration, this will likely be a short series.
In addition to Herro, the Heat need star big man Bam Adebayo to step up if they are going to have any chance to make this a series.
Game 2 tips off on Wednesday at 7:00 PM ET on TNT from Boston.