It is unclear when Jimmy Butler suffered the injury, but he did not warm up for the 2nd half with the rest of his teammates.
BOSTON (AP) — Heat guard Jimmy Butler will not play in the second half of Game 3 of their Eastern Conference finals matchup with Boston because of inflammation in his right knee.
Miami made the announcement at the start of the second half. Butler also missed Game 5 of the Heat’s first-round series with the Hawks because of the same injury.
Butler played 20 minutes in the first half Saturday, scoring eight points on 3 of 8 shooting. He was coming off a team-high 29-point performance in Miami’s Game 2 loss.
#MIAvsBOS INJURY UPDATE: Jimmy Butler left tonight’s Game 3 with right knee inflammation and will not return.
— Miami HEAT (@MiamiHEAT) May 22, 2022
The Heat led 62-47 at the half.
Miami began Game 3 playing at full strength after getting back starting point guard Kyle Lowry for the first time this series. He had missed eight of the previous team games with a right hamstring injury.