As the Miami Heat prepare for a rematch against the Detroit Pistons Sunday afternoon, they will be without a ton of key players, with one including their featured star in Jimmy Butler. As announced in the 11:30 p.m. (EST) NBA official injury report, Butler is listed as “out” for the contest as he is suffering from a right foot contusion.
Jimmy Butler is OUT for this afternoon's game vs. the Pistons with a right foot contusion. #HeatCulture
— Zachary Weinberger (@ZachWeinberger) March 17, 2024
Butler was put on the injury report yesterday with the right foot contusion which was the first fans heard about the 34-year old having an issue. The star did have nagging foot problems earlier this year where he missed a handful of games as he has been averaging 21.4 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 4.8 assists per game while shooting 50 percent from the field.
UPDATE: Jimmy Butler has been ruled out. https://t.co/5mBDFs4ulL
— Miami HEAT (@MiamiHEAT) March 17, 2024
He had a relatively quiet game in Friday's win over the Pistons where he scored 14 points, collected four rebounds, recorded three assists, and had two steals. Fans have been waiting to see Butler turn into a different monster with the games mattering more at this time of the season, but they will have to wait a bit longer.
This could be looked as Miami protecting their arguable best player when they are facing a Pistons team that only has 12 wins, though overlooking the opponent is a recipe for disaster. Plus, Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra and Butler have said time and time again that they aren't looking ahead to the playoffs.
Spoelstra even spoke about Butler's injury before Sunday's game talking about that they will treat him “day to day” and they will listen to his body moving forward.
“We’ll treat him day to day,” Spoelstra said of Butler. “His body will let us know.”
Butler joining other key Heat players who are inactive
Butler isn't the only player out for the Heat as he joins Nikola Jovic who was announced by the team yesterday to be unavailable as he is dealing with a right hamstring strain. Jovic has been a mainstay in the starting lineup as of late as being in the power forward spot.
Other than Butler and Jovic, the Heat are still missing stars Tyler Herro and Kevin Love who will be missing their 11th and ninth game respectively. Herro is set to miss at least one to two weeks more as he will be re-evaulated then after receiving a “platelet-rich plasma injection” for his right foot medial tendinitis. For Love, he is dealing with a right heel bruise.
Stars Bam Adebayo (lower back contusion) and Caleb Martin (left thumb sprain) are also on the injury report, but are not dealing with anything too serious and will play Sunday against the Pistons. The Heat are 36-30 which puts them eighth in a tightly packed Eastern Conference where every game matters with 16 outings left in the regular season.
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