Heat’s Jimmy Butler and Victor Oladipo out vs. Thunder. Caleb Martin ready for return
With the start of the playoffs just one month away, the Miami Heat is taking a cautious approach with Jimmy Butler’s injury.
Butler will miss Friday’s matchup against the Oklahoma City Thunder, which have dropped seven straight and hold the NBA’s fourth-worst record at 20-49, at FTX Arena because of a sprained right ankle. The six-time All-Star tweaked his ankle on a drive to the basket midway through the second quarter of Tuesday’s win over the Detroit Pistons and was held out of the second half of that game.
Heat guard Victor Oladipo will also miss the game because of lower back spasms, as he first appeared on the injury report Friday afternoon after not being listed on Thursday’s report. It marks Oladipo’s first absence because of an injury since he made his season debut last week following surgery to repair the quadriceps tendon in his right knee last May.
The good news for the Heat is wing Caleb Martin (hyperextended left knee) and forward P.J. Tucker (left knee irritation) will play on Friday. Both were listed as questionable on the injury report.
Butler, 32, is averaging a team-high 21.1 points and 1.8 steals per game this season.
While the injury is not expected to keep Butler out for long, it’s the continuation of a concerning trend as he has sprained his right ankle on three separate occasions this season. He missed three games because of the ankle issue in Novemeber, another three games in January and will sit out at least one game this time.
Following Friday’s home game against the Thunder, the Heat has two days off before continuing its schedule on Monday against the 76ers in Philadelphia. By sitting out Friday’s contest, Butler will have five full days to rest his ankle between Tuesday’s win over the Pistons and Monday’s meeting with the 76ers.
Friday marks the 23rd game that Butler has missed this season — 12 because of a tail bone contusion, seven because of a sprained right ankle, two because of left big toe irritation, one because of right big toe irritation and one because of sinus congestion. The Heat is 13-9 without him this season.
The Heat, which sits in first place in the Eastern Conference, has 11 games remaining on its regular-season schedule following Friday’s matchup against the Thunder.
