Heat SF Jimmy Butler OUT Friday vs. Bulls, expected to miss multiple weeks with MCL sprain

Thursday update: There’s no official word on Butler’s knee injury but according to Shams Charania, the star forward is expected to miss multiple weeks with what the team believes to be a sprained MCL. That means Butler will be out for Miami’s game Friday against the Bulls in the battle for the No. 8 seed in the Eastern Conference.

The Miami Heat believe star forward Jimmy Butler suffered a sprained MCL in Wednesday’s loss in the play-in game to the Philadelphia 76ers, according to Shams Charania. Butler will have more imaging done Thursday but there’s a strong likelihood he won’t be able to perform in Friday’s play-in game for the No. 8 seed.

Butler landed awkwardly on his knee at the end of the first quarter going for a shot, and Sixers forward Kelly Oubre Jr. landed on his leg when Butler got him to jump on a pump fake. Butler immediately grabbed his knee and stayed down on the floor, but did shoot the free throws since a foul was called. Butler eventually stayed in the game and played through the issue, but that likely aggravated the injury.

With Butler likely sidelined if he did indeed sprain his MCL, look for Jaime Jaquez Jr. to be inserted into the starting lineup on the wing alonside Caleb Martin. Both Martin and Tyler Herro would take on bigger scoring roles, although Butler struggled for much of Wednesday’s game when it came to that. Bam Adebayo will also need to be more aggressive.

The Heat lost the first play-in game a year ago but managed to win the second game to capture the No. 8 seed, going on to make a run to the NBA Finals. Will they be able to make the playoffs if their star forward is sidelined?