As the Miami Heat lost to the Boston Celtics Monday night, they look to break their current two-game losing streak Wednesday as they face the Los Angeles Lakers. However, the Heat missed star Jimmy Butler in the defeat as he gets the latest injury update provided by the team itself for the upcoming outing.
Butler is listed as “questionable” for the contest Wednesday against the Lakers, according to the team's official X, formerly Twitter, account, as he deals with right knee soreness, which he suffered in the loss Sunday to the Toronto Raptors. Sitting out the second game of the back-to-back Monday, the hope is that the star can be available to face Los Angeles in what will be a crucial game.
Heat's plan if Jimmy Butler can't play once again
The 35-year-old has now missed five games this year, with the prior four accrediting his absence to an ankle sprain earlier in the season. Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra said before the game against the Celtics that Butler will be listed as “day to day” and hopes to know more when they return home, according to Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald.
“There’s no change,” Spoelstra said. “He’s not playing tonight. We’ll just treat him day to day. He’s still sore. But we’ll see what happens when we get back to Miami.”
In his place in Boston was Heat star Jaime Jaquez Jr., who made his first start for Miami this season, with whom the two share similarities in how they use their aggressiveness and physicality on offense to draw defenders. He led the team along Tyler Herro with 19 points on shooting five for 14 from the field, 0 of three from deep, along with 10 rebounds, three rebounds, and three steals.
“When guys go down, it’s our job to step up and try to fill in those gaps,” Jaquez said of starting in place of Butler. “So coming into this game, I knew I had to be aggressive. That was my mentality.”
If Butler were to miss his second straight game, Jaquez would likely remain in the same role as he looks to build upon an impressive rookie campaign. Still, Butler would say after the aforementioned Raptors loss that the injury is “nothing new.”
“I’m cool,” Butler said to the media after last Sunday's game. “A little banged up. Ain’t nothing new.”
Other injuries to the Heat before matchup with Lakers
So far this season, Butler is averaging 18.9 points, 5.1 rebounds, and 4.8 assists per game while shooting 53.8 percent from the field as when his usage is up, the team benefits. Butler has had great performances for the Heat this season that have led to positive results, which is why they are hoping for his return on Wednesday.
Other than Butler, Josh Richardson is questionable with an illness, and veteran Kevin Love is also questionable with back issues as he also missed Monday against the Celtics with back spasms. Spoelstra also spoke about Love, who has missed two of the last four games, and said that he “tweaked” his back but made it seem like it was not severe.
“This is the same back deal,” Spoelstra said before Monday’s game. “He just tweaked it a little bit. It’s not as painful as the initial time. But enough so that he wouldn’t be able to go tonight.”
Miami would also announce that Nikola Jovic will be out with an ankle injury, along with first-round rookie Kel'el Ware, which the reason is stated as a “G-League assignment.” At any rate, the team is 9-10, which puts them seventh in the Eastern Conference before their matchup with the Lakers on Wednesday.
