The Miami Heat will be without their star player Jimmy Butler for the remainder of the opening playoff series.
Butler sprained his medial collateral ligament during the Heat’s Play-In Tournament loss to the 76ers and has not appeared since.
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The Heat will face the No. 1 seed Celtics in the first round of the playoffs, but will be without Butler for the rest of the series.
During the first quarter of the Heat’s loss to the 76ers, Butler faked Kelly Oubre Jr. The fake worked, but Oubre fell on top of Butler.
The contact sent Butler to the floor in pain, and he played, but ended up forcing him out of the next Play-In game.
After the Heat-76ers game, Butler told Oubre that they were “playing hands” over the incident.
Butler has been reported to have a severe strain of MCL, and NBA reporter Shams Charania explained the severity of the problem.
“It’s crazy to me that Jimmy Butler played three quarters [vs. the Sixers] what I’m hearing now was a severe MCL sprain,” he said.
“He’s not coming back in this series. This is a rehabilitation that will last at least a month, it could be two months of rehabilitation.
“Fortunately for him it wasn’t the ACL, it wasn’t the meniscus, but even if the Heat somehow advanced in this first round, his postseason availability would be up in the air.”
The Heat did not provide any timetable for a possible return, but confirmed that Butler suffered an MCL injury.
They managed to win their second Play-In game against the Bulls without Butler, but his absence was evident in the opening round against the Celtics.
The Heat suffered a massive 114-94 loss in the first game and looked completely outmatched against the Celtics.
It looks like it will be a difficult task for them to win at least one game against the top-ranked team in the East.
Without Brunson, the Heat’s other stars Bam Adebayo, Tyler Herro and rookie Jaime Jaquez Jr. will need to step up to have any chance against the Celtics.
Adebayo scored 24 points in the game, a loss, while Herro and Jaquez managed just 11 and 16, respectively.
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This story originally appeared on The-sun.com read the full story
