Jimmy Butler out for Heat in Game 5 vs. Hawks because of knee inflammation. No MRI planned
The Miami Heat will be without both Jimmy Butler and Kyle Lowry in Game 5 of its first-round playoff series on Tuesday night against the Atlanta Hawks.
The Heat announced Tuesday afternoon that Butler will miss Game 5 at FTX Arena because of right knee inflammation. Lowry, who remains day-to-day, had already been ruled out for a second straight game because of a strained left hamstring.
The hope and belief is that Butler’s knee issue is minor. Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said before Tuesday’s game that no MRI or other medical tests are planned for the injury, labeling Butler as “day-to-day.”
With a 3-1 lead in its first-round series against the Hawks, the Heat will take a cautious approach.
“He was sore yesterday with his knee, got a little bit [worse] today and then the training staff just made the determination that he will not be available,” Spoelstra said.
When asked when the injury occurred, Spoelstra said Butler and the Heat aren’t sure.
“That sometimes just happens in the playoffs,” Spoelstra added. “You’re doing things so hard and so intense. But he’s just not quite ready.”
Butler, 32, has been dominant to begin the playoffs. He averaged 30.5 points while shooting 54.3 percent from the field and 7 of 16 (43.8 percent) on threes, 7.8 rebounds, 5.3 assists and 2.8 steals in the first four games of the series, with only Dallas’ Luka Doncic and Denver’s Nikola Jokic averaging more points than Butler this postseason.
Entering Tuesday, the Heat has outscored the Hawks by 20.9 points per 100 possessions with Butler on the court in the series and been outscored by the Hawks by one point per 100 possessions when Butler hasn’t been on the court.
Butler missed 25 games in the regular season — 12 because of a tail bone contusion, seven because of a sprained right ankle, three because of left big toe irritation, one because of right big toe irritation, one because of sinus congestion and one for rest purposes. The Heat posted a 15-10 record in games without Butler.
Aside from Butler and Lowry, the rest of the Heat’s roster is available to play in Game 5. Gabe Vincent again started in Lowry’s place and Victor Oladipo started for Butler.
“We’re not wrapping our mind trying to win for weeks,” Spoelstra said of playing Tuesday without Butler and Lowry. “We’re wrapping our mind around just winning one game, and we’ve had a lot of different variations of our rotation that’s given our team confidence to be able to handle the things that sometimes are unpredictable. We’ve gained a lot of confidence to be able to figure out ways to win regardless of who’s playing.”
Meanwhile, the Hawks will be without one of their best players in Game 5 with guard Bogdan Bogdanovic ruled out because of right knee soreness. Bogdanovic has averaged 14.3 points on 40.8 percent shooting from the field and 34.6 percent shooting on threes, 4.8 rebounds and three assists in the series.
If the Heat can find a way to win without Butler and Lowry to eliminate the Hawks on Tuesday, it will earn nearly a week off. The NBA announced that Miami’s potential second-round playoff series won’t begin until Monday at FTX Arena against the winner of the first-round matchup between the Philadelphia 76ers and the Toronto Raptors.
This story was originally published April 26, 2022 at 4:12 PM.
