Heat’s Butler (knee) out

The results are in: Jimmy Butler is out.

Butler will not be able to play for the host Heat in a win-or-else game Friday night at 7 p.m. against the Bulls in the NBA’s play-in tournament because of a right knee injury, one that will sideline him for several weeks.

An MRI on Thursday showed he sprained the MCL ligament, an injury that typically takes at least four weeks or more to heal.

That means if Miami wins the No. 8 seed Friday, it still won’t have Butler for a Round 1 playoff matchup with the Celtics — a daunting matchup even if Butler was healthy. Boston, the top playoff overall seed, finished 18 games ahead of Miami and went 3-0 against the Heat in the regular season.

“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. “That has to be the path right now.”

Butler was injured in the first quarter in Philadelphia, grabbing at the knee in obvious pain and limping throughout the remainder of the contest — but staying in the game most of the way. He played 40 minutes, finishing with 19 points, 4 rebounds, 5 assists, and 5 steals.

His mobility appeared to get worse as the game went along, and Spoelstra said postgame that Butler’s knee kept getting stiffer and stiffer. Butler was 2 for 4 from the floor when he got hurt — then just 3 for 14 in the remainder of the game.

“I thought the adrenaline would kick back in and I’d be able to move,” Butler said after the game. “And it just wasn’t the case. I wasn’t able to do anything on either side of the ball and I think I hurt us more than I helped us, actually.”

Butler’s absence will only add to serious injury issues for the Heat.

Miami (46-36) has been without starting point guard Terry Rozier for two weeks because of a neck injury, and will play without him Friday. Shooting guard Duncan Robinson has missed 10 of Miami’s last 15 games with a back problem, and in the five games he did play in that stretch he was clearly affected — shooting only 6 for 26 (23 percent) from 3-point range.

For his career, he’s a 40 percent shooter from beyond the arc.

“We’ve had experience with that,” Heat center Bam Adebayo said of playing shorthanded. “The biggest thing for us is to rally around each other and get the W.”

Coby White scored a career-high 42 points to help the Bulls (39-43) eliminate the Atlanta Hawks, 131116, Wednesday night in Chicago. Dejounte Murray led Atlanta with 30 points. But the Hawks came up short again after dropping their final six regular-season games.

White, whose previous high was 37, went hard at the rim throughout the game and had fans chanting his name down the stretch as the Bulls rolled.

The only mishap, though, came when Bulls guard Alex Caruso went down with a sprained ankle. His status remains unclear.

The Bulls-Heat game is a rematch of the East play-in finale last year, a game where 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,” said Bulls guard DeMar DeRozan. “Everybody was just frustrated. That feeling sucked. I know for me, that’s one thing that’s on my mind once I realized we were going back to Miami — to not have that same feeling.”

Pelicans hurting, too

The Heat will not be the only team without its star player in the finale of the play-in tournament. The Pelicans (49-33) will be without power forward Zion Williamson (hamstring injury) when they host the Kings (46-36) in the Western Conference play-in game Friday night at 9:30.

The Kings, meanwhile, will still be without small forward Kevin Huerter (shoulder) and shooting guard Malik Monk (knee).

Leonard questionable

Lawrence Frank, the Clippers president of basketball operations, said Kawhi Leonard has been fighting “very, very stubborn inflammation” in his surgically repaired right knee for nearly three weeks and is questionable for Sunday’s playoff opener against the Mavericks.

Leonard missed the final eight games of the regular season and hasn’t played since March 31.

Woman is playoff ref

Ashley Moyer-Gleich was selected to become only the second woman in NBA history to referee a playoff game.

She was one of 36 referees announced by the league Thursday as its referee selections for Round 1.