Miami’s lineup shuffling continues Monday (PHT) against the Hawks, as All-Star guard Jimmy Butler will miss his first game in a month due to a knee injury. Over his last 15 games, Butler averaged 21.9 points, 8.7 rebounds, and 8.7 assists while lifting the Heat from a slow start to the thick of the Eastern Conference playoff race.
“We want to be proactive about it,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said of Butler’s injury. “He will be day-to-day from here.”
Second-year guard Tyler Herro, meanwhile, slides back into the lineup after missing the previous three games with a hip injury. The former lottery pick is averaging 16.9 points, 6.1 rebounds, and 3.8 assists despite a fluctuating role due to a slew of Miami injuries and early-season bout with COVID-19.
The defending Eastern Conference champions have taken a next-man-up approach to a season hammered by uncertainty. Fourteen different Heat players have started at least one game this season. Only three — Bam Adebayo, Duncan Robinson, and Kelly Olynyk — had started more than two thirds of Miami’s games entering Monday.
Injuries and COVID-19 have prevented the defending Eastern Conference champions from establishing lineup consistency all season.
Jimmy Butler’s last 15 games helped earn him an All-Star spot, but the veteran’s knee injury presents yet another adjustment for the defending Eastern Conference champions.
