PHILADELPHIA – Heat guard Jimmy Butler suffered a possible MCL injury to his right knee during Miami's 105-104 play-in tournament loss to the 76ers on Wednesday night, sources confirmed to ESPN.
Butler was injured on the final play of the first quarter in Philadelphia when, after running out for a potential fastbreak layup, he tried to outwit Kelly Oubre Jr. for a layup – only to end up buckling his knee after Oubre popped up on it, causing Butler to fall to the ground in obvious pain.
“I fell, he landed and my knee just wasn't feeling good, I guess,” said Butler, who said he will have an MRI of his knee on Thursday. “I don't know it. It’s not a good feeling, I can tell you that.”
After spending an extended period of time on the floor, Butler finally got up and shared the two free throws.
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Butler remained in the game but scored a total of 12 points on 3-for-14 shooting the remainder of the period, while Miami's offense dried up after a 12-point lead at halftime, allowing Philadelphia to come from behind and secure the win .
Now the question is whether Butler will be available when Miami takes on Chicago on Friday night, with the winner receiving the No. 8 pick.
“It felt like I couldn’t do too much, which sucks because of the timing of the game and everything,” Butler said. “I hope I'm doing well. I hope I wake up tomorrow and can still carry on. At the moment I can’t say that’s the case.”
The Heat are in exactly the same situation as last year: playing at home for the right to advance to the playoffs as the eighth seed. The winner of Friday's game travels to Boston to play the Celtics on Sunday afternoon.
“We just have to get one and then we’ll worry about the next one,” Butler said.
Butler stayed in the game, hoping that eventually “the adrenaline would kick in again” and he would find the ability to take control down the stretch. Instead, Butler hit 3 of 10 in the second half and took just two shots in the fourth quarter – none of which came in the final four minutes of the game.
“That just wasn’t the case,” he said. “I couldn’t do anything on either side of the ball. I think I hurt us more than I actually helped us.”
The Athletic was first to report Butler's possible MCL injury.
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