Heat’s Jimmy Butler out vs. Celtics with right ankle soreness
As if playing the team with the Eastern Conference’s third-best record on the second night of a back-to-back set wasn’t enough, the Miami Heat has to do it without one of its All-Stars.
Jimmy Butler missed Tuesday’s game against the Boston Celtics at Disney’s Wide World of Sports Complex in Lake Buena Vista because of right ankle soreness.
Butler, 30, played in the Heat’s first two seeding games at Disney, averaging 19 points on 50 percent shooting from the field, 5.5 rebounds and six assists in 31.6 minutes. He finished Monday’s loss to the Toronto Raptors with 16 points, seven rebounds, five assists, two steals and two blocks in 33 minutes.
With Butler out, the Heat moved Kelly Olynyk into the starting lineup in Butler’s place alongside Kendrick Nunn, Duncan Robinson, Jae Crowder and Bam Adebayo.
Miami’s next seeding game comes Thursday against the Milwaukee Bucks, with the playoffs set to begin on Aug. 17.
Butler is averaging team-highs in points (20.2), assists (6.1) and steals (1.7) in his first season with the Heat. Miami has outscored opponents by 227 points with Butler on the court and has been outscored by one point when Butler is not playing.
Butler missed Sunday’s practice with what the team termed as an “excused absence.” But that absence is unrelated to the ankle injury he’s currently dealing with.
Tuesday marks the 12th game Butler has missed this season. The Heat has posted a 5-6 record in the first 11 games Butler has missed.
This story was originally published August 4, 2020 at 5:58 PM.
