Following defeat in their initial play-in game, the Miami Heat’s night only got worse as the team received horrific news that Jimmy Butler‘s knee injury suffered during the contest was far worse than initially imagined. However, despite being shorthanded against the Chicago Bulls during their ultimate play-in game, the South Florida side witnessed numerous players step up in the absence of their star and grab a 112-91 win [per NBA.com]. Upon the team clinching the 8th seed in the playoffs for the second consecutive year, infamous analyst Skip Bayless posed a rather shocking hypothetical of Jimmy Butler potentially returning to the squad against the Boston Celtics.
Advertisement
During the dying seconds of the first quarter of the Heat’s 17th April clash against the Philadelphia 76ers, Jimmy Butler took a scary fall after being fouled by Kelly Oubre Jr. Butler and was subsequently on the floor writhing in pain for a considerable amount of time time. However, the 34-year-old went on to play the entirety of the contest, finishing with 19 points in 40 minutes, per NBA.com.
Reports later revealed that the reigning Eastern Conference Finals MVP’s injury was beyond serious – an MCL sprain – an injury that can take a very long time to recover from. Due to this, Butler has been sidelined for “several weeks”, per ESPN.
However, with the Miami Heat set up to play against the Boston Celtics as their first-round matchup, Skip Bayless presented a hypothetical situation on X (formerly “Twitter”). The hopeful UNDISPUTED analyst explained how amazing it would be if Jimmy Butler magically returned from his knee injury fully healthy soon enough to participate in the 2022 and 2023 Eastern Conference Finals rematch.
Skip wrote, “Wouldn’t it be something if Jimmy Butler miraculously returned from his knee injury, along with Rozier, and as the hopeless 8 seed against the prohibitive favorite 1 seed, again against THAT team, the Miami Heat …”
The Boston Celtics have a stronger roster than what they had in their previous two playoff encounters against the Miami Heat. Even if “Playoff Jimmy” was fully fit, the #1 Celtics would still be the popular favorites to win the series.
At the same time, however, the team stands a better chance of orchestrating an upset with Butler on the lineup. Unfortunately, miracles of this scale don’t often happen. The Heat star was only able to play the entire game last time due to being hopped up on adrenaline. However, now that his body has allowed itself to feel the pain, Butler likely understands just how serious his injury really is. Knowing this, even he would agree that sitting out is the best option at the moment.
With their star sidelined, it will be a great test for Bam Adebayo to put his leadership on display. Additionally, the franchise will also be able to gauge just how well their young core of Tyler Herro, Jaime Jaquez Jr., and Nikola Jovic respond to adversity.
