The Miami Heat play their third game of this week's home stand Friday night as the Orlando Magic take a short drive south to the Kaseya Center. However, the injury status of star Jimmy Butler is still in question for the Heat as it has been for the last six games. While Miami has done well without Butler, he is still the driving force of the team and arguably still their best player.

It has been a tumultuous past month for Butler as he has been dealing with a multitude of injuries. He is still on the injury report with the toe ailment that has been bothering him for some time now. The question that has been posed for the last six games still stands in the present time.

Is Jimmy Butler playing tonight vs. the Magic?

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Jimmy Butler injury status vs. Magic 

Miami Heat star Jimmy Butler in front of the Kaseya Center.

While technically Butler has been upgraded for Friday night's game against the Magic, he has went from being immediately “out” to “doubtful” for the contest according to the team's X (formerly known as Twitter) account. Even though Butler will most likely not be participating in the game, there still should be some excitement from fans as he is close to returning to action.

He suffered a toe injury, later specifically labeled as a “sprained right 1st MP joint,” in the Dec. 30 contest against the Utah Jazz where Butler later told the media that he thought the injury was way worse because of how it felt. He said Tuesday after practice that the injury is “progressing well,” but still needs a couple of more days.

“It's progressing well. I just stepped wrong and I think the toe is a part of the foot, so it's like the toe, but it's the mid foot area,” Butler said. “But it's getting better. Moving a little bit better. Still got a couple more days honestly till we can get tolerable pain in there and then I'll be ready to go.”

It is expected that with Butler on the verge of not playing Friday night, he can return Sunday against the Charlotte Hornets or Monday facing the Brooklyn Nets according to Ira Winderman of The Sun Sentinel. It can't be both though as it will be a back-to-back.

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Other key Heat players on the injury report

As for another key player added to the injury report, Heat star Tyler Herro is “doubtful” for the game Friday due to a right shoulder strain. He has been the leading scorer for Miami this season as he has been averaging 22.4 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 4.5 assists per game. This was a late addition to the injury report as he was originally questionable.

Starting point guard Kyle Lowry is again listed as “doubtful” for Friday's game against the Magic as he deals with the hand sprain. He missed Miami's Wednesday loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder after suffering the injury in Monday's win to the Houston Rockets.

Another big injury upgrade has been forward Caleb Martin who is a key rotational piece for Miami. Having been doubtful for the last handful of games, he has been upgraded to “questionable” as he continues to deal with a right ankle sprain. Martin has been a standout for the Heat, but has dealt with ankle injuries all season with this most recent one making him miss time since Christmas Day.

Once again, Miami deals with a plethora of injury issues going into the game against Orlando. However, they are still 21-16 which puts them seventh in the Eastern Conference.