Miami Heat forward Jimmy Butler will not play on Monday night in Boston against the Celtics after suffering a knee injury late in Sunday’s 119-116 loss to the Toronto Raptors. Fortunately for Miami, the injury does not appear to be serious.
Butler’s absence also won’t be anything new for the Heat, who are used to playing without their leading man. He has not reached the 65-game threshold since 2018-19, and this will be his fifth missed game already this season. With Butler sidelined, expect a huge statistical output from guard Tyler Herro, the team’s leading scorer at 24.0 points per game.
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PG Tyler Herro, Miami Heat vs. Boston Celtics, $7,500
With the 16th highest DFS salary among players on Monday night’s slate, Herro won’t come cheap. His high price is for a good reason, though; the fifth-year Kentucky product is having the best season of his career so far, pairing his career-high scoring with career-best efficiency (58.9% effective field goal percentage).
Even dating back to his time in college, Herro has relished the spotlight, and he will be the Heat’s unquestioned first option on Monday night. Herro has thrived this season when entrusted with a bigger role, with three of his eight highest-scoring games so far this season coming during Butler’s previous four-game injury absence. The crown jewel was a 40-point, eight-assist masterpiece in a 123-121 loss to the Detroit Pistons on November 12.
The Celtics have a better defense than the Pistons do, but they, too, are suffering from a plethora of injuries. Jrue Holiday, Boston’s point guard and one of the league’s premier perimeter defenders, has already been ruled out, as have centers Kristaps Porzingis and Al Horford. Meanwhile, guard Derrick White and wings Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum are all questionable. With so many question marks, the Celtics defense will probably struggle to contain Herro on Monday night.
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All views expressed are my own. I am an employee of DraftKings and am ineligible to play in public DFS or DKSB contests.
