Jimmy Butler expected to miss extended time as Heat await results of MRI on knee

MIAMI — In the wake of a knee injury that left him a shell of himself by the conclusion of Wednesday night’s costly road play-in loss to the Philadelphia 76ers, Miami Heat forward Jimmy Butler is expected to miss extended time in a Heat season that might not have extended time remaining.

An MRI on Butler’s right knee is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. Thursday, a day before the Heat will be playing for their season in a Friday night’s winner-take-all Eastern Conference finale against the Chicago Bulls at Kaseya Center.

Wednesday night, as he sat by his locker while scanning a quiet room in Philadelphia, Butler found himself in a single moment talking about himself and his team.

“It’s not a good feeling. I can tell you that,” he said.

The comment was about the knee strain sustained when he took the brunt of the body weight of 76ers forward Kelly Oubre during a first-quarter collision. But he also could have been talking about the Heat’s situation, to either advance Friday to the best-of-seven first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs against the top-seeded Boston Celtics or fall to the ignominy of the NBA draft lottery.

In many ways, the Heat have become the embodiment of a team limping to a possible finish line.

— Butler was scheduled for a Thursday exam that could determine the fate of his postseason and the Heat’s, but an NBA source close to the forward confirmed the initial diagnosis was a knee strain.

— Guard Terry Rozier, added in January to provide the type of offensive boost often lacking in Wednesday night’s 105-104 loss at Well Fargo Center, has missed the past four games with what the team is listing as neck spasms.

— Guard Duncan Robinson was listed as available for Wednesday night, but was held out for the fifth consecutive game due to left facet syndrome, the ongoing back issue that has sidelined him for 10 of the past 15 games.

Rozier remains an unknown, having last played in a dreary April 7 road loss to the Indiana Pacers that helped drop the Heat into this desperation of the play-in round, limited to four points that night.

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