Why is Miami Heat’s Jimmy Butler Not Playing Right Now? When Will He Return? April 20 Update

The Miami Heat is back, and it is back with a bang. Not only did they defeat the seemingly invincible Brooklyn Nets, but they also did it with no Jimmy Butler around. Then, they pulled off a blowout victory over the Houston Rockets while being short of many of their stars. 

The Heat is now a 30-win squad, very close to entering the safe zone of the Top Six EC teams. However, they can’t afford to put their guard down because the coming weeks are packed with tough match-ups. For that, they’ll need Jimmy Butler back on the squad. So what’s the update on the team leader?

Jimmy Butler injury update: Is there anything to worry about?

Jimmy Buckets injured his right ankle at the April 13 game against the Suns. It was during the fourth quarter, when the star was attempting for a midrange jumper, that the injury happened. During his landing, the 31-YO contacted the Suns’ defender and landed awkwardly on his right foot (ankle rolling outwards). Just as he grabbed his ankle, the team pulled him out of the floor. 

Now, the good sign about his injury was that he could come back into the game later. In fact, he played the following two games for the Heat before complaining of some issues. Notably, the league has already seen one such case with Christian Wood when he sprained his ankle, came back to play, and later worsened it. 

With Jimmy, however, his case is thankfully not as serious and hence the team has listed him as a day-to-day decision for upcoming games. The main man of the roster has already missed two games and one can expect him to play against the Spurs (but there is no official word on this). Overall, the Heat were 4-11 in the 15 initial games that the star forward missed this season. But as of now, they’ve bettered it to 6-11. 

How is the Miami Heat without their top scorer?

With or without Jimmy Butler, the leader’s words remain with the team. He earlier called his roster soft to pump them up for the remaining season. His impact on Bam Adebayo was such that the young center hit a game-winner against the Nets to close the game with a surprising W. That’s how Jimmy plays from the outside.

And when he does not play at all, the Heat have Duncan Robinson, Kendrick Nunn, and Goran Dragic who cover up when four of their stars are missing. That happened on the night against the Rockets when Victor Oladipo (knee), Tyler Herro (foot), Bam Adebayo (sore right knee), and Jimmy did not play. 

The Heat still enjoyed a dominant 113-91 victory against the Rockets to make their case for the Top six even more strong. What all could they accomplish with the healthy addition of those injured players?