Butler sidelined with the Heat’s season on line
Jimmy Butler will not be able to play for the Miami Heat in a win-or-else game Friday night against the Chicago Bulls in the NBA’s playin tournament because of a right knee injury, one that will sideline him for several weeks.
An MRI on Thursday showed that he sprained the medial collateral ligament, which typically takes at least four weeks to heal. That means if Miami wins Friday, it wouldn’t have Butler for a first-round playoff matchup with top seed Boston, which finished 18 games ahead of the reigning Eastern Conference champions and went 3-0 against them.
“We will do this the hard way,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said in Philadelphia on Wednesday night, when Butler played most of the game after getting hurt and Miami lost 105-104, missing out on a chance to be the No. 7 seed in the East.
Miami also will be without point guard Terry Rozier (neck injury).
The Heat are not alone. All four teams have serious injury concerns going into their matchups to decide the No. 8 seeds. New Orleans will be without star Zion Williamson because of a hamstring injury against Sacramento, a team that’s been without starters Kevin Huerter and Malik Monk in recent weeks because of injuries. Chicago had guard Alex Caruso go down because of a sprained ankle in Wednesday’s 131-116 win over Atlanta.
The Bulls-Heat game is a rematch of the East play-in finale last year, a game which Chicago led by three with 3:47 left and got outscored 15-1 the rest of the way.
“I remember that plane ride back home vividly,” Bulls guard DeMar DeRozan said.
One way or another, New Orleans will make history. The Pelicans will either become the first team to go 6-0 in a season (without a playoff series) against an opponent since Denver against Minnesota in 1994-95, or will become the second team in history to go 49-33 or better and not make the playoffs (joining the 1971-72 Phoenix Suns, who went 49-33).
76ers prevail
Tyrese Maxey yelled loud in the locker room after the 76ers’ play-in tournament win Wednesday night.
“Buddy Hield! Welcome to the playoffs!” Maxey said.
Hield held the dubious distinction of most NBA games without a playoff appearance by an active player: 632 plus one more bonus game. Traded to the 76ers at the deadline, the 31-year-old guard hit a big three-pointer when the 76ers rallied from 14 down against the Heat.
Nicolas Batum, another in-season addition after a trade from the Clippers, hit game-shifting three-pointers and scored 20 points, and most valuable player Joel Embiid had 23 points, 15 rebounds and one huge assist to Kelly Oubre Jr. on a goahead three-point play.
“Lots of booing. We stuck together,” Embiid said after changing the crowd’s tune. “It just shows you that I don't play my best, I don't get to my spots the whole game until the fourth quarter, and we still find a way to win.”
Embiid exploded out of a quiet game late in the fourth quarter. The 7-footer had been a nonfactor as Batum and Hield sparked the 76ers in the second half.
“We won the game because of them,” Embiid said. “Those guys stepped up.”
Then Embiid buried a goahead three from the top of the arc with 2:33 left for a 9391 lead that sent a crowd — that had just about booed the 76ers out of the building at the half — into a frenzy. Embiid again was clutch with a three-point play for a 96-94 lead.
Female ref
Ashley Moyer-Gleich will become only the second woman in NBA history to referee a playoff game. Violet Palmer worked nine playoff games between 2006 and 2012.