The Miami Heat appear to be on their way to a victory and a 2-1 series lead over the Milwaukee Bucks in Game 3 of their first-round playoff series.
But just when things were looking good for them, Jimmy Butler, their franchise player, suffered a nasty fall and had to go back to the locker room.
Miami is already shorthanded, as it has been without guard Tyler Herro, who suffered a hand injury in Game 1 and will most likely miss the rest of the playoffs.
Before he went out, Butler had put together a magnificent performance, leading both teams in scoring with 30 points on 12-of-19 shooting while making all four of his 3-point attempts. He was the chief reason the Heat established a 94-79 lead after three quarters of play.
He scored 35 points on 15-of-27 shooting while dishing off 11 assists in their Game 1 win.
Needless to say, the Heat would have a minuscule chance of winning this series if Butler has to miss any time, even if Giannis Antetokounmpo continues to be sidelined for the Bucks with the back injury he sustained in Game 1.
Miami came out on Saturday at home looking energized after dropping Game 2, 138-122. It got going early behind some hot 3-point shooting and built a lead over the shorthanded Bucks.
Point guard Kyle Lowry, who was virtually a non-factor in the first two games, gave the Heat a lift off the bench as they managed to put up 66 first-half points despite being the only NBA team to average less than 110 points a game in the regular season.
Game 4 of this series will take place on Monday, which won’t give Butler a whole lot of time to recover and be ready to play if he indeed has suffered some sort of diagnosable injury.