Jimmy Butler injury update: Heat star out for Game 5 vs. Hawks with knee inflammation; Victor Oladipo to start

Miami Heat star Jimmy Butler will not play in Game 5 of their first-round series against the Atlanta Hawks on Tuesday. The team announced that Butler is out for Game 5 due to right knee inflammation. 

Butler has been instrumental in the Heat taking a 3-1 lead in the series. He is coming off a 36-point, 10-rebound, four-assist, four-steal performance in a 110-86 victory on Sunday, and that wasn’t even his best game of the playoffs — in Game 2, Butler scored 45 points on 15-for-25 shooting, with five rebounds, five assists and two steals. In four games against the Hawks, Butler has averaged 30.5 points on 63.6 percent true shooting, 7.8 rebounds, 5.3 assists and 2.8 steals. 

Victor Oladipo, who jumped into the rotation in Game 4 and played 23 minutes, will replace Butler in the starting lineup. Kyle Lowry will miss his second straight game with a left hamstring strain, and Gabe Vincent will once again take his place as a starter. Both Butler and Lowry could potentially be available in Game 6 on Thursday, should the Hawks extend the series, according to Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel.

Oladipo’s playmaking will be even more important in Butler’s absence, and some of the offensive burden will surely fall to Tyler Herro and Bam Adebayo, too. Herro, the Sixth Man of the Year frontrunner, started only 10 regular-season games, but six of them came when Butler was unavailable. Herro was significantly less efficient in his small sample as a starter, and Erik Spoelstra’s coaching staff has elected to keep the second unit intact.  

While Butler missed 25 games this season, this is the first time that he has been on Miami’s injury report with a knee injury. He missed time because of ankle, toe and tailbone injuries and a sinus issue.