Heat's Jimmy Butler gets status update after ankle injury
11/09/2024 05:21 PM
As Miami Heat star Jimmy Butler left Friday’s game against the Nuggets in the first quarter with a right ankle injury, his label for the next contest facing the Minnesota Timberwolves has been revealed. While Butler’s status was originally murky, he will be in fact out Sunday with the injury as announced by the team’s official X, formerly Twitter, account.
He sustained the injury as Butler was driving on Denver guard Jamal Murray as when he stopped abruptly, he turned his ankle, which garnered a vivid reaction of pain. While he would be in for a few more possessions, he would go straight to the locker room after being subbed out.
Jimmy Butler has gone to the locker room after suffering an apparent injury pic.twitter.com/MRUuwvOcar
— HEAT on FanDuel Sports Network (@FanDuelSN_Heat) November 9, 2024
It will be Butler’s first missed game of the season as his health has been a talking point for many, including Heat president Pat Riley, who was non-committal in a contract extension, citing player availability as a reason. Butler played 60 games last season, and the most he’s played in a Miami uniform was 64.
Heat’s Bam Adebayo, Tyler Herro emphasize next-man-up mentality
While the Heat’s injury problem was on track to be better, the start of the season has displayed some early hurdles. However, the team has dealt with these woes the past few seasons, so they are best prepared for it as star Bam Adebayo echoed the same sentiments, according to Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald.
"We've been down this road before, so it's next man up," Adebayo said. "And from there, we just figure out how we can piece it together and figure it out."
"Stay together," Adebayo continued on his message for the team. "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.”
The loss of Butler against Minnesota means more offensive work for guard Tyler Herro, who has impressed to start the season, even leading the team in points per game with 22.9. While Herro’s role with the Heat was heavily speculated by fans, he’s shown to be one of the main offensive engines and even said after Friday’s loss to the Nuggets that they are built to overcome adversity.
"This is what we're built for — backs against the wall," Herro said. "We've lost three straight. We've been in a lot of games that we've lost. We just got to figure out a way to sustain it for 48 minutes. … We just got to continue to stick with it and keep our spirits high. It's early in the season and we just got to keep working hard."
Heat’s Erik Spoelstra on the bright side of the current “tough stretch”
If there is someone excited about the challenge, it is head coach Erik Spoelstra, who has been going through different Heat roster rotations, like benching Nikola Jovic in the past two second halves.
"That's what I love about this league," Spoelstra said. "You can pay as much money as you want, you can earn as much money as you want, you have to earn wins in this league. We're in a tough stretch right now, but this is the part you have to love — about how you can rally around the challenge, rally around each other and rally around doing tough things to earn wins."
At any rate, the Heat are in the midst of a three-game losing streak as they are still in their tough six-game road trip. They face the Timberwolves without Butler on Sunday night, though they could potentially get back Jaime Jaquez Jr. as he’s questionable, and Kevin Love is off the injury report, set to make his season debut.
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