The Miami Heat’s Jimmy Butler is out again Wednesday vs. Bucks because of ankle injury
The Miami Heat will be without one of its All-Stars for the second consecutive night.
Jimmy Butler has been ruled out for Wednesday night’s game against the Milwaukee Bucks because of a sprained right ankle, according to the NBA’s 1:30 p.m. injury report. It’s the second consecutive game the All-Star wing will miss because of the ankle injury after also sitting out Tuesday’s blowout home loss to the Bucks.
Butler, 31, injured his right ankle during last week’s season-opening loss to the Orlando Magic, but he attempted to play through the injury on Christmas Day against the New Orleans Pelicans. Butler recorded four points, six rebounds and five assists 16 first-half minutes in Friday’s win over the Pelicans, but right ankle stiffness forced him to miss the second half.
Without Butler on Tuesday, the Heat used its third different starting lineup in the third game of the season: Tyler Herro, Duncan Robinson, Moe Harkless, Bam Adebayo and Meyers Leonard. But that starting group only played the first two minutes of the game before coach Erik Spoelstra made the first substitution just 2:02 into the opening period after the Bucks took a quick 10-0 lead.
The expectation is Miami will go with a different starting lineup Wednesday against Milwaukee.
Veteran Heat forward Andre Iguodala is expected to play Wednesday after Spoelstra chose to rest him on the front end of the back-to-back Tuesday. Iguodala is not on Miami’s injury report.
The only Heat player besides Butler on Wednesday’s injury report is two-way contract guard Gabe Vincent, who is probable to be available after recovering from an offseason scope on his right knee. The only Bucks player who has been ruled out is Torrey Craig (nasal fracture).
Following Wednesday’s game against the Bucks, the Heat travels for a quick one-game trip to take on the Dallas Mavericks on Friday night. It’s still unknown whether Butler will travel with the team for that contest.
Butler missed 15 regular-season games last season — five games because of personal reasons, four because of right foot soreness, two because of a right shoulder strain, one because of a left big toe injury, one because of right hip soreness, one because of lower back soreness and one because of an illness. The Heat posted a 6-9 record in the 15 games Butler missed.
The Heat is 0-1 without Butler this season.
This story was originally published December 30, 2020 at 1:36 PM.
