Sports

/

ArcaMax

Jimmy Butler expected to miss extended time as Heat await results of MRI on knee

Ira Winderman, South Florida Sun-Sentinel on

Published in Basketball

Robinson was listed as active on Wednesday night, with a clear difference in being active and being able.

“Every day that he gets, he’s going to make progress,” coach Erik Spoelstra said of holding out the Heat’s lone remaining 3-point specialist. “And that’s really what it was. We don’t have a whole lot of time for ramp up, so he hasn’t had those opportunities.

“I think each step he’ll feel better, and we’ll take it from there.”

Asked if Robinson was playable in Philadelphia, Spoelstra said: “These are tough decisions. I can’t answer that right now. But he’s definitely making progress. That’s what’s encouraging.”

Both teams will enter ailing, with Chicago Bulls defensive stopper Alex Caruso dealing with an ankle issue that sidelined him at the close of Wednesday night’s home victory over the Atlanta Hawks.

“Just kind of tweaked my ankle a little bit,” Caruso said, “that same one I was dealing with for the last couple weeks of the season that we were managing and figuring out.”

 

But when it comes to injuries, all eyes are on the status of Butler, who missed 22 regular-season games. The Heat 13-9 went in his absence.

Butler said he knew something was wrong in the moment of the collision with Oubre, when he was fouled during a drive in the closing seconds of Wednesday night’s first quarter.

“I mean, I feel, he landed and my knee just didn’t do well,” he said.

While Butler played on to the finish, closing with 19 points in 39:39, he acknowledged he wasn’t the same player.

...continued

swipe to next page

©2024 South Florida Sun-Sentinel. Visit sun-sentinel.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

Comments

blog comments powered by Disqus