Heat to play without Butler, Lowry, Tucker and have 10 available players vs. Celtics
The Miami Heat will be without three starters when it opens a six-game trip on Monday night against the Boston Celtics.
Starting point guard Kyle Lowry will miss his eighth straight game because of undisclosed personal reasons. And on Monday afternoon, the Heat ruled out starting wing Jimmy Butler (right big toe irritation) and starting forward P.J. Tucker (left knee irritation).
Butler and Tucker will miss Monday’s game after playing 52 minutes and 41 minutes, respectively, in Saturday’s triple-overtime loss to the Toronto Raptors. It marked the first time Butler, 32, has played more than 50 minutes in a game as a member of the Heat and the most minutes Tucker, 36, has played this season.
The Heat is also in the middle of a grueling stretch that includes four games in five nights. Following Monday night’s matchup against the Celtics, the Heat faces the Raptors in Toronto on Tuesday (7:30 p.m., Bally Sports Sun).
The belief is that Butler and Tucker’s injuries will be short-term issues and won’t keep them out for long.
As for Lowry, there’s no definitive timetable for when he’ll be back. But a return during the Heat’s current six-game trip that ends next week has not been ruled out.
The Heat has overcome a lot of injuries and COVID-19 absences this season, but Monday marks the first game that it has played without Butler, Lowry and Tucker. Miami is 12-6 without Butler, 8-3 without Lowry and 5-1 without Tucker this season.
Along with missing Butler, Lowry and Tucker, the Heat will also be without Markieff Morris (return to competition reconditioning), KZ Okpala (right wrist sprain), Victor Oladipo (right knee injury recovery) and Omer Yurtseven (health and safety protocols) on Monday in Boston. Oladipo was the only one in the group who traveled with the team on Sunday for the start of the trip, as he continues to work toward a return.
With seven players out, the Heat will have 10 available players against the Celtics: Bam Adebayo, Dewayne Dedmon, Kyle Guy, Udonis Haslem, Tyler Herro, Caleb Martin, Duncan Robinson, Chris Silva, Max Strus and Gabe Vincent.
The Celtics will be without Bol Bol (right foot surgery), P.J. Dozier (left ACL surgery) and Brodric Thomas (G League) against the Heat.
This story was originally published January 31, 2022 at 2:19 PM.
