The Miami Heat look to prepare for the rest of their current four-game home stand as they face the Golden State Warriors Tuesday night and then the Portland Trail Blazers later in the week on Friday. However, as the continuous injury train keeps rolling, now Jimmy Butler is set to miss time as he was ruled out per a Heat spokesperson telling ClutchPoints with an illness.

Butler attended the U.S. Open tennis event yesterday, but Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra didn't specify if he caught the illness there. However, Spoelstra said that he did not “feel well at all” Tuesday so they will see Wednesday in how he feels and what his status will be.

“He's sick, doesn't feel well at all today,” Spoelstra said on Butler's illness. “So we'll evaluate and tomorrow see how he feels.”

There was some hope for Kevin Love's return against the Warriors, but he was ruled out as he will miss his 14th straight game with a right heel bruise. While he was upgraded yesterday to questionable, Spoelstra said he “never thought” Love was going to play.

“We just have to give those classifications for the league so they don't come down on us and find us,” Spoelstra said. “But I never thought he was gonna play tonight.”

Steve Kerr “not falling for that trick” with Heat missing key players

Miami Heat guard Jimmy Butler (22) attempts a shot against the Cleveland Cavaliers during the first half at Kaseya Center.
Jim Rassol-USA TODAY Sports

The Heat now go into Tuesday's game and maybe Friday without a ton of their key players including the likes of Tyler Herro, Duncan Robinson, and possibly Jaime Jaquez Jr. and Caleb Martin depending on their health. However, Warriors head coach Steve Kerr told ClutchPoints that “we're not falling for that trick,” saying Miami has a “competitive desire.”

“Yeah, we're not falling for that trick. We've fallen for that trick many times in the past and it's always a bad thing to me when the other team is missing some of its best players,” Kerr said. “I would guess that most coaches around the league agree, it's just an automatic red flag for our team. Don't let your guard down but no matter how many times you say it, it just feels like this league you got so many talented players, who can't wait to get their chance they get out there on the floor, they play with amazing energy. We all know Spo's [Spoelstra] a great coach and Miami has a culture of competitive desire. So we're not we're not falling for that. we know what we're in for today.”

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Heat still played well with crucial absences  

On the other hand, the Heat blew out the Cleveland Cavaliers in their last game even when they were down a number of crucial players. As Kerr and Spoelstra have been saying all season, even to ClutchPoints last Sunday, the Heat head coach is not even thinking about the frustrations and said before Tuesday's game that during the Cavs win, “nobody was thinking about the shot profile” as every player found success.

“The best part about that is nobody was thinking about the shot profile, where our shots were coming from, who was getting the shots,” Spoelstra said. “It was just a desperation to come out with a great effort defensively and see where that took us and that's sometimes the karma of the game it. Oftentimes is the karma for us for sure. If we concentrate on doing those tough things defensively, the basket tends to get bigger for us and more guys tend to get into rhythm.”

Miami is 39-32 heading into Tuesday's game and are seventh in the tightly packed Eastern Conference. With 10 games left in the regular season after the Warriors matchup, there is no room for error for the Heat.