Jimmy Butler suffers MCL sprain, expected to miss multiple weeks

20 Apr 2024

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Jimmy Butler suffers MCL sprain expected to miss multiple weeks

Jimmy Butler got injured in the first quarter of Wednesday's play-in game against the Philadelphia 76ers. Click here for more!

Miami Heat superstar forward Jimmy Butler has officially been diagnosed with a sprained MCL, an injury suffered in the first quarter of Wednesday’s play-in game against the Philadelphia 76ers, the team announced Thursday afternoon.

#CHIvsMIA INJURY UPDATE: Jimmy Butler (right MCL sprain) and Terry Rozier (neck) have both been ruled out of tomorrow night’s play-in game vs the Bulls.

— Miami HEAT (@MiamiHEAT) April 18, 2024

As a result, Butler is expected to miss multiple weeks, should the Heat win Friday against the Chicago Bulls and advance further into the postseason.

There were previous reports from Shams Charania of The Athletic regarding an MCL injury and from Heat insider Greg Sylvander of Five Reasons Sports that there was no swelling in Butler’s knee, “but MCL meniscus tear are suspected.”

An update on Jimmy Butler’s status

More on Jimmy’s status on our Off the Floor discord

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— Five Reasons Sports ????????⚾️????⚽️ (@5ReasonsSports) April 18, 2024

Thankfully–for both Miami and Butler himself–neither muscle was fully torn and there isn’t need for potential surgery (that we know of right now), though the former could change as time goes on.

Even after Butler was injured, he stayed in the game and played 40 minutes, despite being noticeably compromised as the game wore on. He tallied 19 points on 5-of-18 shooting and 2-of-6 from the 3-point lane, adding four rebounds, five assists and a game-high five steals.

“I fell, he landed and my knee just didn’t do well, I guess,” Butler said after the game, according to ESPN. “I don’t know. It’s not a good feeling, I can tell you that.

“It felt like I couldn’t do too much, which sucks with the timing of the game and everything. I hope that I’m fine. I hope that I wake up tomorrow and can still stick-and-move. Right now, I can’t stay that’s the case.”

In ~30 minutes after Jimmy Butler sprained his MCL, he had…

????13 points????3 rebounds????3 assists????3 steals

Numbers may not pop off the screen, but that is *hard* to do on one knee.

Really unfortunate that it had to end this way for him#HEATCulture pic.twitter.com/32Ljd7lQgw

— Matt Hanifan (@mph_824_) April 18, 2024

Butler’s effort post-injury was very admirable, even though it’s unclear how much worse the injury got by playing on it. Nevertheless, the Heat will be without their superstar forward for the foreseeable future and likely the remainder of the season if it doesn’t go on a deep playoff run.

First, they must take care of business tomorrow evening against the Chicago Bulls, who it went 2-2 against this season, in order to save their season. If not, the Heat will miss the playoffs for the first time since Butler’s arrival, an unfruitful end to an otherwise rocky season mired by … you guessed it … injuries.