After suffering a knee injury against the Houston Rockets on Feb. 23, Jimmy Butler has slowly worked his way back to the basketball court. According to Minnesota Timberwolves head coach Tom Thibodeau, the next step will be Butler being cleared for contact.

During Butler's 13-game absence so far, the Timberwolves are 6-7 without him as they find themselves holding onto the final spot in the Western Conference. In a much-needed win over the Atlanta Hawks to give the Timberwolves a two-game lead on the Los Angeles Clippers, Butler simply does not care about statistics according to Bleacher Report:

As Butler was dancing and crumpled up the piece of paper, he was still likely aware of Karl-Anthony Towns' career night. The 22-year-old rising star finished with 56 points (franchise record), 15 rebounds, and four assists in 41 minutes.

With the Timberwolves looking to make the playoffs for the first time since the 2003-04 NBA season, they have an interesting final stretch against the Dallas Mavericks, Utah Jazz, Denver Nuggets (twice), Los Angeles Lakers, and Memphis Grizzlies. As the Nuggets are only 2.5 games back, the Jazz are just percentage points ahead of them.

For the Timberwolves, it remains to be seen if Butler will be able to play some games before the playoffs. As they are likely facing the Houston Rockets or Golden State Warriors in the first round, it will be a fun matchup as the Timberwolves were expected to face them in the second round prior to Butler's injury.

Butler is averaging 22.2 points, 5.4 rebounds, and 5.0 assists in 56 games.