Heat Injury Report: Latest on Jimmy Butler, Terry Rozier and Others Ahead of Game 4 vs Celtics

Miami Heat‘s playoff performance against the Boston Celtics is already in jeopardy due to the absence of Jimmy Butler from the team. In addition to it, Heat insider Zachary Weinberger recently revealed that point guard Terry Rozier is off the roster for Game 4. The reason Rozier is not playing is because of the neck spasms that the NBA athlete is facing. However, Scary Terry is the only one who is unable to play because of physical trouble.

Heat forward Jimmy Butler has also been out of the team since the Play-in tournament matchup against the Philadelphia 76ers. He got an MCL sprain in his right knee during the first quarter of the game. After that, he was not able to play in any match. It seems that Butler won’t be able to play for weeks with what he got after Sixers’ Kelly Oubre Jr.’s landing on him.

Other players who are ousted from the team due to some injury are Josh Richardson and Delon Wright. Josh has been absent from the Heat since March after his right shoulder surgery. Therefore, he will not play for the rest of the season. Coming to Delon Wright, he opted not to play in Game 3 of the playoff due to ‘personal family reasons.’ However, according to CBS Sports, he will probably play in Game 4 against Celtics.

How is the Heat going to beat the Celtics without Jimmy Butler?

Jimmy Butler was a trump card for the Miami Heat lineup, averaging 20.8 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 5 assists this season. Unfortunately, due to injury, Butler could not fulfill his wish to play in the playoffs for his team. Since the Heat’s star player is not there to save the day, coach Erik Spoelstra and Co. might face trouble facing the Celtics, who are playing as ‘one’ on the court.

Even in the post-game presser, Spoelstra revealed that the Celtics’ “disposition” at the start with their three helped them to cushion up their confidence. On top of that, Erik said that they were less “physical” in comparison to the Celtics players. Despite all of the accusations, the Heat coach agreed that their opponent played better and put pressure on Miami players from the start.

Considering the nuances from the last game, the only approach for the Celtics for Game 4 is to play hard and well. They have to accumulate the courage to not crumble under pressure. Either they have to build pressure from the start with hard play or read the game play and then retaliate.

The strategy requires good execution, and Heat is missing a player who can execute better. It will be interesting to watch if they’ll be able to save themselves from Celtics’ thrashing in Game 4.