Heat’s Jimmy Butler to play vs. Grizzlies despite sprained ankle
The Miami Heat will have star Jimmy Butler available for Wednesday’s game.
Butler was listed as questionable with a sprained left ankle, but he has been cleared to play and start Wednesday night against the Memphis Grizzlies at FedExForum.
Butler, who has missed 14 games this season, turned his ankle on a drive to the basket late in Tuesday’s 113-98 home win against the Cleveland Cavaliers. With the Heat already ahead 103-90, Butler was fouled on a drive into the paint with 3:26 left and came away from the play with a slight limp.
Butler remained in the game and finished with a team-high 28 points and 12 rebounds.
Butler has been the catalyst behind the Heat’s turnaround, averaging 23.2 points on 48.8 percent shooting, 8.2 rebounds, 8.8 assists and 2.2 steals during the team’s current 15-4 stretch in the past 19 games. Miami has outscored opponents by a combined margin of 144 points with Butler on the court during this span.
Although not considered a front-runner, Butler is beginning to generate some MVP buzz because of his hugely positive impact this season. The Heat is 18-8 in games that Butler has played in this season and 4-10 in games that he has missed.
Butler, 31, entered Wednesday’s game against the Grizzlies averaging 21.7 points on 47.6 percent shooting, and career-highs in rebounds (7.5) and assists (7.8) this season. He’s also averaging 2.2 steals and shooting 85.3 percent on 8.6 free-throw attempts per game.
The Heat has outscored its opponent by 7.1 points per 100 possessions when Butler is on the court and it has been outscored by 7.1 points per 100 possessions when he’s not playing this season for an off/court net rating differential of 14.2 points.
The Heat ruled out guard Avery Bradley (right calf strain), and forwards Andre Iguodala (left hip soreness) and Moe Harkless (illness) for Wednesday’s game. Bradley, Iguodala and Harkless did not travel with the Heat to Memphis.
It marks the 20th game in a row that Bradley has missed this season because of his calf injury. Bradley has played in just 10 games in his first season with the Heat.
Iguodala played in Tuesday’s win against the Cavaliers, finishing with eight points and two assists in nine first-half minutes. But he did not play in the second half and will miss his second game this season because of injury on Wednesday.
Harkless was on the active roster against the Cavaliers, but he did not play. He has played in just 11 games this season because of a combination of injuries and a lack of consistent playing time.
In other roster news, the Heat finalized a trade Wednesday with the Oklahoma City Thunder to acquire veteran forward Trevor Ariza in exchange for Meyers Leonard and a 2027 second-round pick. Ariza has been participating in the NBA’s COVID-19 testing protocols in advance of the trade, and the hope is he’ll be available to make his Heat debut in either Friday night’s game against the Indiana Pacers or Sunday afternoon’s game against the Pacers at AmericanAirlines Arena.
This story was originally published March 17, 2021 at 1:40 PM.
