Hip soreness lands Butler on sidelines
Pain forces forward to miss Kings game — his 4th injury absence
MIAMI — The Miami Heat found themselves having to do it the hard way Monday against the Sacramento Kings at AmericanAirlines Arena, with forward Jimmy Butler sidelined due to what the team termed “right hip soreness.”
The team announced the absence less than two hours prior to tipoff, saying there was no specific incident that could be cited during Sunday’s road loss to the San Antonio Spurs at AT&T Center.
“He came in early today, to see how his body could respond to some treatment,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said during his pregame media session.
Spoelstra said there was no open-in-case-of-emergency plan for such an eventuality.
“I don’t have a card that says, ‘Doesn’t Play,’ ” he said. “I tend to not want to breathe that into existence.
“But you have to be able to pivot in this league. We’re not the only team. Everybody’s got to deal with it at some point.”
Derrick Jones Jr. started in place of Butler, as he did when Butler was sidelined for the Jan. 5 home victory over the Portland Trail Blazers. The rest of the starting lineup remained intact, with Bam Adebayo, Meyers
Leonard, Duncan Robinson and Kendrick Nunn.
The Heat are idle Tuesday before a Wednesday home game against the Washington Wizards, to be followed by Friday’s nationally televised game against the Los Angeles Clippers.
“I think a couple of days of treatment will serve him really well,” Spoelstra said of Butler.
It is the fourth injury absence for Butler, 30, who was signed in July to a four-year, $142 million free-agent contract.
He missed the first three games of the season for the birth of his daughter, with the Heat 2-1 over that span.
He then missed the Nov. 27 road loss to the Houston Rockets, due to illness, as well as that Jan. 5 victory over Portland, due to lower-back soreness.
The latest absence comes with forward Justise Winslow amid a two-week evaluation period that has him sidelined with a lowerback bone bruise.
“We’ve proven that we’ve been able to put together a game that’s good enough regardless of who’s available,” Spoelstra said. “We have enough. We have some depth. And guys are starting to play a little bit more comfortably in bigger responsibilities.
“Obviously that’s a big component that’s out. But we have enough.”
Butler was 0 for 3 in Sunday’s fourth quarter in San Antonio, including missing a late potential game-tying 3-point attempt.