MIAMI — Even with the Miami Heat ruling Jimmy Butler out for a fifth consecutive game with a toe injury, which will make it his ninth absence in the past 10 games, Butler said Tuesday he feels fortunate.
“I actually thought it was way worse than it really was,” he said of the injury sustained in the third quarter of the Dec. 30 road loss to the Utah Jazz. “I was scared for a much larger reason, because of a bruise or a bone, whatever you want to call it. I’m just so glad it wasn’t what myself and some other people may have thought.”
Butler’s injury is listed as a 1st MP Joint Sprain in his right foot. But no, he said, it is not turf toe.
“I don’t think it’s turf toe because I’ve actually had turf toe before, on this foot, back in my Chicago days,” he said. “And that’s bad, it’s really bad. No, it’s not that. It’s just a foot and a toe.”
Butler had missed four consecutive games with a strained left calf prior to his return against the Jazz. He said he does not believe this latest injury is a compensation injury.
“I don’t know. I’m not a doctor,” he said. “The trainers may think so. I just think stuff happens. But we’re doing everything we can to get me back on the floor. I can’t say that. I’m moving better and I can break a little sweat. And I promise I’ll be ready to go when I can.”
Butler shot on the side at Tuesday’s practice.
“It’s progressing well,” he said. “I just stepped wrong and I think a toe is a part of the foot, so it’s like the midfoot area. But it’s getting better, moving a little bit better. I still got couple of more days, honestly, until we can get tolerable pain in there, and then I’ll be ready to go.”
So a no-go for Wednesday night against the Oklahoma City Thunder, the second game of this four-game homestand that opened with a victory Monday night over the Houston Rockets and continues Friday night against the Orlando Magic.
Instead, more days like Tuesday of testing the foot and then taking stock.