The Miami Heat might have lost more than just a game in the NBA play-in tournament on Wednesday night.
Star Jimmy Butler is feared to have suffered an MCL injury in his knee, and the ailment could sideline him indefinitely, The Athletic’s Shams Charania reported after the game.
Butler will undergo an MRI exam, according to Charania, and his availability is up in the air for Friday’s tournament elimination game.
“It had me feeling that I couldn’t do too much,” Butler told reporters about his knee, according to the Sun-Sentinel.
Butler was seen limping off the court after the loss after he went down hard late in the first quarter as he was going for a basket.
The 76ers’ Kelly Oubre Jr. went flying over him trying to defend the basket, and Butler immediately started grabbing his right knee as he was down on the ground.
He remained in the game, but ESPN play-by-play announcer Mike Breen mentioned that Butler was limping the rest of the game.
Video also emerged of Butler limping significantly as he left Wells Fargo Center following the loss.
“He’s really putting himself out there and I really appreciate him for that competitive spirit,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said about Butler after the game. “It really stiffened up on him in the second half. He was able to still move a little bit in that second quarter after it. But as the second half went on it started to limit him a little bit more, just the movement, but we’ll see.
“We have no idea right now and we’ll see when we get back to Miami.”
Butler finished the game with 19 points in 40 minutes of playing time while coming up with five steals and five assists.
He pulled down four rebounds and shot 5 of 18 from the field.
