Heat's Jimmy Butler gets injury update after shocking win over Timberwolves
11/11/2024 05:28 PM
The Miami Heat have been without Jimmy Butler since he exited early against the Denver Nuggets on Friday with a sprained right ankle injury. Butler already missed Sunday’s game against the Minnesota Timberwolves and will be out on Tuesday vs. the Detroit Pistons, per NBA insider Chris Haynes.
The 4-5 Heat are off to a shaky start. Miami has dropped four of their last six after a decent 2-1 start to the season. Butler hasn’t been himself, only averaging 16.1 points per game to start the season. Two years ago, he was shooting 53.9% from the field, yet Butler dropped to 49.9% last year and is down again to 47.8% this season.
Heat tested during a six-game road trip
Halfway through a long stretch on the road, Miami has dropped two of its first three away contests. Upcoming are matchups against the Detroit Pistons and back-to-back games against the Indiana Pacers.
The messaging is at least correct, as Bam Adebayo has been trying to rally the troops recently.
"Stay together," Adebayo said. "When people go through stretches like this, everybody starts falling apart. Everybody wants to do their own thing because they think that's going to be the recipe for success. For us, we got to stay together through the good and the bad."
Tyler Herro, who’s been picking up the slack offensively while leading the team with 23.2 points per game, discussed who needs to step up with Butler out.
"We don't have an answer on Jimmy yet that I know of," Herro said. "But it's always next-man-up mentality. We've dealt with injuries and different guys being out, me being one of them. It's always a next-man-up mentality."
Miami may need to make a big trade to shake things up. The Heat are among the teams rumored to be monitoring the status of Milwaukee Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo and others, per ClutchPoints’ Brett Siegel.
"Going after the best of the best is always the name of the game for the Heat, which is why nobody should be surprised to see Anthony Edwards, Giannis Antetokounmpo, and De’Aaron Fox be some of the names that this organization is intrigued by," Siegel wrote. "While none of these three All-Stars will be traded this season, all of them carry question marks about their immediate futures with their respective organizations.
"If things go south in Minnesota after dealing Karl-Anthony Towns and all the ownership questions that exist, could Edwards seek new digs? Will Antetokounmpo ask out of Milwaukee if they fail to steer the ship in the right direction, and does Fox potentially hit the open market after not agreeing to a new extension with Sacramento? These are situations that the Heat are monitoring and keeping their options open for moving forward."
Haywood Highsmith played 30+ minutes over Miami’s last three games during part of Butler’s absences. Kevin Love also got the start against the Timberwolves although he only played 13 minutes as Nikola Jovic played more in the power forward role.
The post Heat’s Jimmy Butler gets injury update after shocking win over Timberwolves appeared first on ClutchPoints.
