Forward Jimmy Butler to return for Heat’s game against Celtics

Forward Jimmy Butler missed his fifth straight game Friday against the visiting Washington Wizards due to a right knee injury. However, It is expected that he will be back in time for the Miami Heat’s two games against the Boston Celtics next week.

Butler last took the court on November 18, when the Toronto Raptors beat them on the road. Two nights earlier, he played 35 minutes at home in a win over the Phoenix Suns. He then played 38 minutes. Before that, he appeared for 42 minutes in a win over the Charlotte Hornets that extended into overtime.

Point guard Tyler Herro is back after missing eight games with an ankle sprain. Shooting guard Victor Oladipo is getting ready to play for the first time this season as he recovers from knee pain. The team will likely try to cut down on Butler’s playing time since he still has three years left on his $140 million contract.

Friday was the seventh Heat game Butler missed this season. He missed 25 games last season, 20 in 2020-21 when the pandemic cut the NBA schedule from 82 games to 72 games, and 15 in his first season with the Heat in 2019-20 when the schedule was cut to 73 games.

However, Butler has led the team to deep playoff runs in two of the last three seasons. He played 806 postseason minutes over 21 games in the 2020 run that came within two wins of an NBA title, and he played 629 playoff minutes over 17 games in the run that came within one game of the NBA Finals last season.

The next thing on the Heat’s schedule is a four-game trip that starts on Sunday against the Atlanta Hawks and continues with games in Boston and Memphis.

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Robinson, Strus out of the game

Butler, Oladipo, and center Omer Yurtseven who has ankle surgery, were already ruled out of Friday night’s game. On Friday afternoon, guards Duncan Robinson and Max Strus were also officially ruled out of the game.

Robinson missed his third straight game due to a sprained left ankle after twisting it during Sunday night’s loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers. After missing the previous game with a sprained right hand, the game in Cleveland was his first game back.

In his five-year NBA career, Robinson hadn’t missed a game due to injury until his absence in Washington. Meanwhile, Strus shot 7 of 23 in a loss to Minnesota on Wednesday night, before being sidelined with a right shoulder impingement.

Lowry on Butler’s status

With 20 free throw attempts in the two games before Friday, point guard Kyle Lowry entered Friday’s game in decent shape. Up until those games of 11 and nine free throws, Lowry had never made more than eight attempts so far this season.

“Without Jimmy, we’ve got to find ways to get some relief points and get to the line,” Lowry said.

“Jimmy is one of the best in the league of getting to the line. My biggest thing is Coach wants me to push a little more and create some opportunities and just get in there and playing with pace and with energy and effort.”

With Friday’s game, the Heat have now played three games against the Wizards in eight days. This is only the second time in the team’s 35-year history that they have played three games against the same team in eight days. The first time was against Cleveland from April 19-26, 1999.