Butler’s status in question for Sunday vs. Mavs. Also, injury updates on Jaquez and Rozier
The Miami Heat’s rare five-day break did not completely cure its injury and availability issues.
With its last game coming Monday in its home win over the Philadelphia 76ers, the Heat listed star Jimmy Butler as questionable for Sunday’s matchup against the Mavericks at Kaseya Center (6 p.m., FanDuel Sports Network Sun) because of an illness. Butler missed practice on Saturday due to the illness.
Butler recently missed four straight games because of a sprained right ankle before returning to score a season-high 30 points in Monday’s victory over the 76ers, but now his status is again in question.
The Heat also ruled out Josh Christopher (G League) and Dru Smith (right knee bone bruise) for Sunday’s contest.
But the good news for the Heat is it’s expected to get back Terry Rozier (right foot discomfort) and Jaime Jaquez Jr. (sprained right ankle) after they missed Monday’s victory over the 76ers with injuries.
Rozier is listed as probable and Jaquez is listed as available for Sunday’s game.
In addition, Josh Richardson is not on the injury report despite missing Thursday’s practice because of heel pain. Richardson is expected to be available against the Mavericks.
The Heat is also calling on reinforcement from the G League, as two-way contract forward Keshad Johnson is expected to rejoin the team for Sunday’s game.
Johnson, who went undrafted this year out of Arizona, is off to a strong start for the Heat’s G League affiliate. He has averaged 20.8 points, 9.5 rebounds and 1.3 steals per game while shooting 48.4 percent from the field in his first six games with the Sioux Falls Skyforce this season.
The Mavericks will without star Luka Doncic, who will miss his second straight game on Sunday because of a sprained right wrist. But Dallas is already 2-0 without Doncic this season, coming off an impressive 123-120 win over the Nuggets in Denver while missing Doncic behind 26 points from Naji Marshall and 22 points from P.J. Washington.
The Mavericks will also be without Dante Exum (right wrist surgery) and Brandon Williams (G League) against the Heat. Dallas center Daniel Gafford is listed as questionable because of left shoulder soreness.
“Even without Luka, Kyrie [Irving] is an offense unto himself,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said of preparing for the Doncic-less Mavericks. “The creativity and stress he can put on your defense is real. And obviously, Klay [Thompson] is somebody that can get going, and he does not need much space or time.”
The Heat’s five-day break between Monday’s win over the 76ers and Sunday’s matchup against the Mavericks marks only the second time in franchise history that the Heat has had five or more days off in the middle of a season (not including All-Star break). The only other time that the Heat had a five-day break in the middle of a season in franchise history, excluding All-Star breaks, came in January 2013.
This story was originally published November 23, 2024 at 2:48 PM.
