Jimmy Butler injury update: Heat star doubtful for Game 4 vs Celtics with knee problem

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The Miami Heat listed Jimmy Butler as questionable for game 4 On Monday. Butler left Saturday night’s Heat’s Game 3 win in the Eastern Conference Finals against the Boston Celtics with a knee infection. Butler played 19 minutes in the first half but didn’t come out of the dressing room after halftime.

It’s not clear if there was a specific incident that caused the flare-up, but Butler struggled with knee problems throughout the playoffs. He previously missed Game 5 of the Heat’s first-round series against the Atlanta Hawks with a knee infection. In general, this has been an injury-plagued season for Butler. He has only played 57 games for a variety of reasons including ankle, tailbone, toe and shoulder problems.

Butler’s injury isn’t the only area of ​​concern for the Game 4 Heat. Miami also listed Tyler Herro (groin), PJ Tucker (knee), Max Strus (hamstring), Gabe Vincent (hamstring), and Kyle Lowry (hamstring) as doubtful. Lowry played 29 minutes into Game 3 but had previously been sidelined for Miami’s last four playoff games with a hamstring injury. Tucker pinched his knee in Game 2 but didn’t lose any time with the injury. While Herro, Strus and Vincent saw a normal workload in Game 3, listing all of them on the injury report clearly shows just how battered the Heat is at the moment.

Although the Heat seems to be riddled with injuries at the moment, Butler’s potential absence could be the biggest. He almost single-handedly won Game 1 of that series by averaging 41 points, nine rebounds, five assists, four steals and three blocks. For the playoffs, he’s averaging 29.8 points, 7.6 rebounds, 5.2 assists and 2.2 steals per game while shooting 54 percent from the field.

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The Heat survived Game 3 without Butler, but missing him for an extended period could hurt Miami. We’ll have to wait and see if Butler’s knee is ready to go before Game 4.