Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Butler doubtful for Bucks
Veteran forward still having to deal with sore right ankle
Miami Heat forward Jimmy Butler apparently will miss more time after sitting out the second half of the Christmas Day victory over the New Orleans Pelicans with a sore right ankle.
Despite a three-day break in the Heat’s schedule after that victory, coach Erik Spoelstra said Monday that Butler has not practiced and would be listed as doubtful for Tuesday’s game against the Milwaukee Bucks at AmericanAirlines Arena, the first of two home games on consecutive nights against the defending Eastern Conference regular-season champions.
“Every player and every injury is different,” Spoelstra said, when asked whether Butler could miss additional time. “We’re treating this the way we think is right, currently.”
Among Spoelstra’s options is to return guard Kendrick Nunn to the rotation or inject second-year forward KZ Okpala into the mix. Nunn’s lone action this season has been in the first half of Wednesday’s season-opening loss to the Orlando Magic at the Amway Center, when he played 8 minutes, 2 seconds. He then was held out of Friday’s victory over the Pelicans.
Spoelstra said he is “really comfortable” with Nunn, a starter for most of the 2019-20 regular season.
“It just takes the right circumstances,” Spoelstra said of getting the runner-up for 2020 Rookie of the Year back into the mix.
“We are deep. Everybody has to stay ready.
And it requires some sacrifice.
“But particularly with what we’re trying to get accomplished this year, you need really good players. And K-Nunn is a really good player. He’s got a great knack for scoring and putting the ball in the basket.”
Okpala led the Heat with 24 points in their Jan 18 preseason finale against the Toronto Raptors but has played only 19 seconds of mop-up duty against the Pelicans.
“It’s all part of learning the league and learning how to break through and earn a consistent role,” Spoelstra said of Okpala potentially getting his chance. “Usually it’s defending, playing with energy helping the offense function, and then you earn more opportunities from there. And KZ’s fully in that process right now.
“And he’s had some more consistent days and really good practice days. And then our last memory of him was very good. So he just has to compete, to commit to that process.”
Center Bam Adebayo said it’s all about picking up for an ailing teammate.
“I mean, it’s not just me or Jimmy, it’s everybody,” Adebayo said after Monday’s practice.
“Once a player goes out, it isn’t one or two people’s job to cover that one person. It’s everybody’s job to figure out how we can do that without having that person in the lineup.
“So the lineup that’s going to be out there [Tuesday], that’s the lineup that has to do more because Jimmy’s not out there.”
For Tyler Herro, it likely will mean more on his plate, particularly from a scoring perspective after he stepped up in the playoffs when point guard Goran Dragic was sidelined.
“I think the mindset is always next man up, no matter who it is,” Herro said. “We have to go out there for however many nights it may be, whether it’s one or two weeks, two months, whatever it may be, to pick them up and keep it moving forward.
“Obviously, everything we do is through Jimmy. He’s a big key for us. I think it’s next man up.”
And, no, the expectation is not of a lengthy Butler absence.
“There’s a bunch of guys on this team that are capable of making plays and making shots,” Herro said. “So it’s not one guy that gets put on to make up for what we have missing.”