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The Miami Heat enter a pivotal Game 4 of their Eastern Conference playoff series against the No. 1 seed Milwaukee Bucks as banged up as they have been in a while.
The Heat went up 2-1 in the series after winning 121-99 at home in Game 3, but the victory was bittersweet due to the injuries the team sustained.
Miami lost guard Victor Oladipo, who suffered a torn patellar tendon in his knee that will force him to miss the remainder of the postseason, while star forward Jimmy Butler left the game with pain in his glute and did not return. Starting forward Tyler Herro is also out with a broken hand, and will miss four to six weeks.
Butler is questionable for Game 4 with a glute bruise, but barring some unforeseen circumstance, he’ll play, particularly considering the hot streak he has been on lately.
Jimmy Butler Has Been Tearing it Up vs Bucks
Butler, 33, became the third Heat player to score more than 25 points in the first three games of a postseason, joining LeBron James and Dwyane Wade. He played 28 minutes in Game 3 and scored 30 points after scoring 25 points in Game 2 and 35 in Game 1.
Butler also went 4-of-4 from the 3-point line in Game 3 (he’s shooting 66.7 from beyond the arc in the series) and Heat coach Erik Spoelstra says that if the Bucks are going to continue to give Butler open shots from three, the veteran forward will keep taking them.
“I feel like we’ve faced a similar coverage in years past,” Spoelstra said after Miami’s Game 3 victory, via NBA.com. “You have to take those shots. He’s worked on it diligently. You have to keep defenses honest. It’s not as if he’s just pulling out of a hat right now at this time of the year. He really works at it.”
“I can shoot the ball whenever I want,” Butler added. “I know I can make it. I’m not worried. Even if you back up off of me, if I want to get into the paint, I’ll still get into the paint. If I want to shoot a mid-range jump shot, I’ll still shoot a mid-range jump shot. That’s part of picking your spots and when you can get to what you want to get to, you can do whatever you want to do.”
Spoelstra Says He Would Have Put Butler Back in if Heat Faltered in Game 3
Butler’s glute issue is more likely nagging and painful than anything else, as Spoelstra said Miami would have put Butler back in had the team’s lead dwindled in Game 3.
“When he went back to the locker room, he said, ‘Hey, just give me a couple minutes. I’ll be ready to go,'” Spoelstra told Sports Illustrated about Butler, adding: “We pushed the lead to 20. I was going to insert him back into the game if it broke 15 but the second unit all night long gave us just a tremendous boost.”
The Bucks have been without superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo for the last two games, and he is listed as questionable for Game 4, so the Heat have an opportunity to go up 3-1 at home against the Eastern Conference favorites.
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