Jimmy Butler is back. Heat’s Butler to start Friday vs. Mavericks
The Miami Heat has Jimmy Butler back in its starting lineup for Friday’s road game against the Dallas Mavericks.
Butler traveled with the Heat to Dallas on Thursday and will play Friday. He was listed as probable on the injury report before he was formally cleared to play against the Mavericks.
The All-Star wing’s return comes after he missed the previous two games because of a sprained right ankle, sitting out the Heat’s back-to-back home set against the Milwaukee Bucks on Tuesday and Wednesday.
With Butler available again, the Heat will use its fifth different starting lineup in the fifth game of the season Friday against the Mavericks: Butler, Tyler Herro, Duncan Robinson, Andre Iguodala and Bam Adebayo. It’s the second consecutive game Iguodala has started.
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 in 16 first-half minutes in a Dec. 25 win over the Pelicans, but right ankle stiffness forced him to miss the second half of that contest and the next two games before returning for Friday’s game against the Mavericks.
Butler’s return will certainly help the Heat. He averaged team highs in points (19.9), assists (6) and steals (1.8) in 58 regular-season games on his way to making the All-NBA Third Team last season, and then averaged 22.2 points on 48.8 percent shooting, 6.5 rebounds, six assists and two steals during Miami’s playoff run to the NBA Finals.
The Heat posted a 1-1 record in the two games Butler missed during the opening week of this season. Miami was 6-9 in the 15 games Butler missed last season.
This story was originally published January 1, 2021 at 6:35 PM.
