Jimmy Butler exited the Miami Heat’s 117-109 loss to the Utah Jazz on Saturday night with a foot injury and didn’t return.
The good news for the Heat is that the injury doesn’t seem to be especially serious, as X-rays on the foot came back negative.
Butler played 23 minutes in the game against Utah, and he finished with eight points, two rebounds and one assist. On the season, Butler is averaging 21.0 points, 5.0 rebounds and 4.5 assists in 33.6 minutes per performance.
Bam Adebayo led the Heat with 28 points and 16 rebounds in the loss to the Jazz, and Tyler Herro added 25 points, six rebounds and six assists. Unfortunately, their production wasn’t enough to lead Miami to victory. The loss snapped Miami’s four-game winning streak.
The game against Utah was Butler’s first action in well over a week. He had missed Miami’s previous four games against the Orlando Magic, Atlanta Hawks, Philadelphia 76ers and Golden State Warriors with a calf injury. Unfortunately, his return to game action was cut short.
Moving forward, the Heat have to hope that the foot injury isn’t something that will keep Butler sidelined for an extended period of time. They currently sit fifth in the Eastern Conference standings with a record of 19-13.
The Heat have a very tough stretch of games to kick off 2024. They will play road games against the Los Angeles Clippers, Los Angeles Lakers and Phoenix Suns before returning to Miami to host the Houston Rockets, Oklahoma City Thunder and Magic. None of those games will be easy, so having Butler available for as many as possible will be important.
The Heat have been hit hard with injury issues so far this season. In addition to Butler, other key contributors like Adebayo, Herro and Duncan Robinson have all missed some time with injuries. Considering all of the injuries they’ve had to deal with, the Heat have had a pretty impressive start to the campaign.
Once the Heat can get everyone healthy and out on the floor together, they should have an opportunity to go on a real run and climb up the standings in the Eastern Conference.