Forward Jimmy Butler will miss the Miami Heat’s regular-season finale against the host Detroit Pistons on Sunday with lower back tightness.
Nemanja Bjelica is expected to start at small forward for Miami (39-32).
Butler, 31, has averaged a team-leading 21.5 points and 7.1 assists to along with 6.9 rebounds per game this season for the Heat.
This will be the 20th missed game of the season for Butler, who also sat out Saturday’s 122-108 road loss to Milwaukee Bucks with the same ailment.
The Heat have already clinched a spot in the NBA playoffs as the sixth seed in the Eastern Conference. Miami entered Sunday one game behind New York (40-31) and Atlanta (40-31), with the Heat owning the tiebreaker over the Knicks but not the Hawks.
–Field Level Media