Late during the Miami Heat’s Game 1 matchup with the New York Knicks in the Eastern Conference Semifinals, Jimmy Butler suffered a painful ankle sprain, landing awkwardly on his foot.
Despite his injury occurring with just over five minutes remaining and the Heat up by just three points, Miami still managed to win the game 108-101. Butler’s injury occurred on Sunday, April 30. The 33-year-old Miami superstar wasn’t able to recover in time for their Game 2 matchup, leading to the Heat falling 111-105 on Tuesday.
Now, a full six days after Butler initially suffered his ankle sprain, the two-way All-Star is set to return to Miami’s lineup for Game 3 on Saturday.
While the Heat somehow managed to stay close in Game 2, even appearing like they might be able to overcome the absence of their best player, the return of Butler as Miami returns home to Kaseya Center will be a massive boost.
Butler is averaging a whopping 35.5 points per game in the six playoff games he’s appeared in this year. He’s also chipped in 6.8 rebounds, 4.7 assists, and 1.8 steals per game. While he may not be back to 100% on Saturday, even a partially injured Butler gives the Heat a fighting chance to go up two games to one.