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Injuries continued ravaging the first-round matchup between the Milwaukee Bucks and Miami Heat on Saturday. Not only did Victor Oladipo leave late in the Heat's Game 3 win over the short-handed Bucks with a potentially serious left knee injury, but Jimmy Butler was also forced to exit his team's blowout victory early after falling hard on his back midway through the third period.
Oladipo's status is still being determined, but there's chance he's sidelined for the remainder of the postseason—just like Tyler Herro, who broke his hand in Game 1. Giannis Antetokounmpo, meanwhile, hasn't played since the first quarter of the playoffs due to suffering a back contusion while taking a hard fall. Fortunately for the Heat, Butler's injury, a bruised glute, seems less serious than his fellow superstar's.
At media availability Sunday morning, Erik Spoelstra indicated that both Butler and Caleb Martin, who took a shot to the shoulder in Saturday's game, should be available for Game 4 on Monday—after some much-needed rest and recovery, that is.
“This is a treatment day more than a practice day,” Spoelstra said, per Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sentinel.
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Butler dropped 30 points on 12-of-19 shooting before exiting with 3:29 left in the third quarter of Game 3, his team holding a commanding lead. He later returned to the bench, alternating between heat and ice wraps around his body.
“He went back to the locker room and said, ‘Hey, just give me a couple minutes, I'll be ready to go,‘” Spoelstra said of Butler on the postgame podium, per Jamal Collier of ESPN. “I was going to insert him back into the game if it broke 15, but the second unit all night long gave us a tremendous boost.”
The Heat lead the top-seeded Bucks 2-1, with Game 4 set to tipoff at 4:30 (PT) on Monday from South Beach. Here's hoping both teams start and finish with a much cleaner bill of health than they did on Saturday.
