The Miami Heat kept the good times rolling in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference Semifinal series against the New York Knicks. After eliminating the Milwaukee Bucks, who had the NBA’s best regular season record, on Wednesday night, they went into Madison Square Garden on Sunday afternoon and defeated the Knicks 108-101.
While the victory was an impressive one as the Heat trailed by as many as 12 in the first half, it came at a cost. All-Star Jimmy Butler, who played at an all-world level in Round 1, suffered what looked to be a nasty ankle sprain with just over five minutes remaining in the fourth quarter.
Butler, who is as tough as they come, remained in the game to shoot his free throws as exiting would have meant he was out for the remainder of the game. Not only did he knock both free throws down, he stayed in for the duration of the game.
“He sprained his ankle several times with us,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra explained. “I know him, I know when I can look in his eye and he assured me he wasn’t going to be a liability and he wanted to stay in there and make sure we get this win.
“That’s the most important thing, we have a lot of chaos and a lot of things going on, but the main thing being the main thing, we have to secure the win. We’ll find out what happens in the next 48 hours.”
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It took a lot of heart and determination for Butler to remain in that game as he was visibly hampered by the injury. Despite remaining in the game, he didn’t do much in his final minutes. On offense, he stood in the corner as a decoy while Gabe Vincent and Kyle Lowry carried the load.
Defensively Butler was able to hide as the Knicks oddly didn’t put him in any actions. Given how hampered he was, it would have been easy to target him in pick-and-rolls, forcing him to make some plays.
NBA NEWS & PLAYOFFS: Jimmy Butler, Miami Heat & New York Knicks Updates
Post-game, Butler was asked about the ankle injury but he didn’t provide much insight. He was asked how it is feeling by Cassidy Hubbarth and he responded, “it feels like an ankle sprain.”
Spoelstra didn’t have much to add, either. “No idea,” Spoelstra said about the gravity of his injury. “You just don’t know with ankle sprains. I don’t even know if we’ll know more by tomorrow [Monday]. We’ll just have to see. It’ll be a waiting game. But he did not want to come out of the game, so we left him in there.”
The Heat will be back at it for Game 2 on Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden. While Butler will assuredly do everything he can to get on the court for that game, it would not be surprising to see him sit out.
NBA NEWS & PLAYOFFS: Jimmy Butler, Miami Heat & New York Knicks Updates
Because of an odd scheduling quirk, Miami and New York don’t play again until Saturday afternoon down on South Beach. That would give Butler five full days of rest and recovery to get ready should he sit out of Tuesday night’s matchup.
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