Jimmy Butler has displayed superhuman abilities at times during the 2023 playoffs. The Miami Heat player has averaged a league-best 35.5 points on 66.2 percent true sh00ting, 6.8 rebounds and 4.7 assists over the course of six games.
However, because Butler is a human, despite how uncomfortable it may be, his ankles are made of human material. After suffering a severe sprain with about five minutes remaining in Game 1 of Miami’s second-round series against the New York Knicks on Sunday, April 30, 2023.
He was able to continue playing, but he didn’t contribute much in the final minutes. On Tuesday, May 2, 2023, his condition for Game 2 is unknown. Erik Spoelstra, the Miami coach stated this on Monday, May 1, 2023 at a hotel in Midtown Manhattan:
“He is receiving treatment around-the-clock and an update probably won’t be available until the game.”
The Heat won the first game of the series partly because of a heroic effort by Kyle Lowry in the final seconds. Miami had three leak-out buckets in the third quarter on outlet passes from Kevin Love, a crμcial three-pointer from Gabe Vincent in the fourth and pretty much the greatest outcomes it could have hoped for from its halftime defensive adjustment.
However, the game was still only a possession away when Butler was hurt, so the Knicks could have been prepared with counters or simply sh00t better than 20.6 percent from 3-point range. “We are aware that there is not much room for error”, Spoelstra stated.
If Butler is injured or unable to play, that margin will be quite small. And his ankle isn’t even the only one in this series that stands in for a significant unknown. The All-Star forward for New York, Julius Randle, missed Game 1 due to a personal sprain.
The Heat have prepared for all the different scenarios, according to Spoelstra and their injuries (Victor Oladipo tore his patellar tendon in the first round and Tyler Herro broke his hand) have kept us on edge in a positive manner.
Lowry said:
“It’s just staying in the moment of what the situation is, Julius Randle may play. Different coverages, different matchups. They may play different guys more, another guy less, who knows. So for us, we watched the film for what we can do better as a team.”
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