The Miami Heat will take on the Phoenix Suns at the Footprint Arena on Saturday night. Heat star Jimmy Butler missed Miami's previous outing on Wednesday against the Portland Trail Blazers due to a right ankle sprain. Butler suffered the injury in the third quarter of Monday's game against the Golden State Warriors. With this injury still relatively fresh, it should be worth asking: Is Jimmy Butler playing vs. the Suns?

Is Jimmy Butler playing vs. Suns?

Butler turned his ankle pretty bad against the Warriors. He did not put any weight on his foot following the injury. With that said, it came as no shocker that he entirely missed Thursday's game against Portland. Nonetheless, the Heat were able to take care of business even without their franchise star as they came away with the 115-109 victory on the road.

The Heat have officially ruled Butler as questionable ahead of Saturday, per Miami's Twitter account.

Heat fans certainly hope that Jimmy Buckets could suit up as this should be an intriguing interconference showdown between the two most recent NBA Finals runners-up. Timelines of ankle sprains tend to vary. But judging from Miami's shootaround in Phoenix, where he had a fun little 3-point shootout with Max Struss, it seems like Butler won't miss a lot of time due to his recent injury.

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Butler has already missed 16 of Miami's 39 games this season. The former Marquette standout suffered a tailbone injury near the end of November, forcing him to miss four games. Upon his return, Butler reaggravated the injury and subsequently missed eight straight games.

Miami has been riddled with injuries and COVID throughout this season. Despite this, they still hold the no. 4 seed in the East standings with a 24-15 record. The Heat should provide an update within the day regarding Jimmy Butler's status vs. the Suns.