The Philadelphia 76ers barely scraped past the Miami Heat in their Play-In Tournament matchup with a 106-105 victory, setting themselves up for a first-round playoffs series with the New York Knicks. The Heat, on the other hand, now have to find a way to keep their season alive without star forward Jimmy Butler, who ended up suffering an MCL injury early in this game thanks to a collision with Kelly Oubre Jr.
Oubre fell on Butler's leg after both guys landed from jumping right at the end of the first quarter, and while Butler was able to play the remainder of the game, he was diagnosed with a sprained MCL, which is expected to hold him out several weeks. Once it was announced on Thursday that Butler would be out for the Heat's Friday night contest against the Chicago Bulls, he commented on the Heat's official announcement saying on Instagram that he wanted to fight Oubre for causing him to suffer this injury.
Whether or not Butler is joking remains to be seen, but it wasn't as if Oubre went out of his way to injure Butler; injuries happen in sports, and this was simply an unfortunate incident that the Heat star suffered. Oubre eventually caught wind of Butler's comment, and replied to it in hilarious fashion with a classic 50 Cent meme.
Kelly Oubre Jr., 76ers turning their attention towards Knicks series
This is a pretty awesome response from Oubre, and it drew quite a rise out of Sixers fans everywhere. He obviously was involved in Butler's injury, but he doesn't seem to understand why he's taking his anger out on him. Even if Butler is serious in wanting to fight Oubre, it doesn't seem like Philly's versatile wing is all that interested in it.
While Butler is left to lament his injury woes, Oubre and the 76ers are turning their attention towards the Knicks. You can bet it's going to be a battle for them considering how fired up New York is to see their time succeeding this season, and in a sense, the trash-talking has already started after Paul Reed said that Philly was happy to be playing the “easier” of their two possible opponents in the Knicks. You can bet they are going to take that comment and try to run with it.
If the 76ers want to advance past the Knicks, they are going to need to play better than they did against the Heat. However, they got the matchup they wanted, and with Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey leading the way, they should feel confident in their chances of winning and moving onto the next round. Oubre is going to have to deliver the goods on a nightly basis too, so with that in mind, Philly should probably do what they can to avoid him potentially fighting Butler and sustaining an injury himself.
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