MIAMI – As the Miami Heat are dealing with injuries to Terry Rozier and Jaime Jaquez Jr., add another name to the list as it’s their biggest star in Jimmy Butler. After coming back to the lineup and Butler leading the Heat to victory over the Philadelphia 76ers last Monday, his status is in question for Sunday’s game against the Dallas Mavericks.
Heat’s Jimmy Butler has an illness that could jeopardize status
A Heat spokesperson told ClutchPoints that Butler missed practice Saturday due to an illness and was later said on the team’s X, formerly Twitter, account that he is listed as “questionable” for the same reason. Before the aforementioned win at home against Philadelphia, Butler had missed the prior four games due to an ankle injury.
The good news for the team is Rozier is “probable,” and even the Heat’s young star in Jaquez is “available” for the contest as the two look to bring a boost if they were to miss Butler. Point guard Dru Smith has been ruled out for the outing due to a bone bruise in his knee as he missed the last three sessions of practice.
Looking ahead to the matchup against Dallas, they will be without a key player in superstar Luka Doncic, who will be out with a wrist sprain. Still, Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra spoke to ClutchPoints about how they still have stars like Kyrie Irving and especially their newest addition in Klay Thompson.
“Well, he [Thompson] has that Hall of Fame shooting that you always have to be aware of where he is on the court because he can ignite at any moment,” Spoelstra said. “They played well, you know, in the few games that played without Doncic. So they’re extremely dangerous either way, they had an impressive win last night. You know, we have to make sure that we’re bringing it and, you know, playing with some enthusiasm here at home and build on what we did the last time we played in front of our fans.”
Heat facing the Mavericks without Luka Doncic
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Despite the Mavericks missing a crucial piece, they are riding a four-game winning streak, with their last victory being without Doncic against the Denver Nuggets. There is no doubt that the game plan will change for Spoelstra, as he said Friday.
“It’s the great players require special attention to the game plan, and it might not be a big departure from what we do,” Spoelstra said. “It’s just every single detail matters, even without Luka, Kyrie [Irving] is an offense unto Himself, the creativity and stress he can put on to a defense is real. And obviously, Klay [Thompson] is somebody that can get going in not much space or time. So, I think it was good to be able to drill some of our defense full speed, we haven’t been able to do that in a while.”
At any rate, the Heat are currently 6-7, which puts them fifth in the Eastern Conference as they look to win two straight, hosting Dallas Sunday.
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