Jimmy Butler and Co finished the 2021-22 NBA season as the #1 team in the East but failed to win the Conference Finals. The way Heat culture works, they would have targeted nothing but a championship this season.
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However, their last two losses have sent them below .500 with a 16-17 record. Having played well over 1/3rd of their games thus far, they haven’t looked like they can be a threat to either Jayson Tatum’s Celtics or Giannis Antetokounmpo’s Bucks.
The reason? Injury trouble. Miami Heat has been able to play with their preferable starting five just 12 times in their 33 outings thus far.
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Butler has missed 11 games thus far because of lingering knee soreness but now also has a sprained ankle to deal with. Will he play the game against the Wolves tonight?
Is Jimmy Butler playing tonight vs the Wolves?
As the Heat seek to level terms on the W/L column, their list of players going through injuries is going to stop them to do that successfully.
While their backup big men, Dewayne Dedmon and Omer Yurtseven are out for tonight’s game, Bam Adebayo is ‘questionable’. And Butler is ‘out’.
This is going to be a big problem because Rudy Gobert might any day be too much for one center alone and who would be a better match for Anthony Edwards in the Heat squad than Jimmy? If the Wolves blow away the Heat, don’t be surprised whatsoever.
Butler is having a troublesome season
In the last five Heat games, Butler has missed two and averaged around 22 points, 7 rebounds, and 5 assists per game in the rest. That’s close to how he has been averaging this season and pretty much the same as his 2021-22 All-Star season.
However, numbers don’t tell the full story. Although Jimmy has never been an outstanding scorer his strong 20-22 points game mostly proves enough for his side.
Those strong performances have yet to come this season. And when we get some glimpse of it, the man gets into injury trouble. Let’s hope he comes out of this soon and in the best shape.
