Jimmy Butler feared to have suffered MCL injury in loss to the 76ers… with Miami star set for MRI scan before Heat faces Chicago for final playoff spot

Jimmy Butler says he will need an MRI on his right knee after sustaining an injury in the first half of the Miami Heat’s play-in loss to the 76ers on Wednesday.

Late in the first quarter, Butler buckled his knee and fell while trying to fake out Philadelphia’s Kelly Oubre Jr. The latter appeared to land on Butler, who led the Heat from the play-in to the NBA Finals last year.

After the collision, Butler sank the first free throw before missing the second. He remained in the game and clocked in 19 points as his team was barely edged, 105-104, by Joel Embiid and company.

‘I fell, he landed and my knee just didn’t do well, I guess,’ Butler said. ‘I don’t know. It’s not a good feeling, I can tell you that.’

Miami still has a chance to be in playoff contention as they host the Chicago Bulls in the final play-in meeting for the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference.

‘We just need to get one and then we’ll worry about the next one,’ Butler said.

It was not immediately clear if Butler would be available to play.

‘It felt like I couldn´t do too much, which sucks with the timing of the game and everything,’ Butler said. ‘I hope that I´m fine. I hope that I wake up tomorrow and can still stick-and-move. Right now, I can´t stay that´s the case.’

Butler, a former Sixer, scored 20.8 points in 60 games for the Heat. The Marquette product said he stayed in the game because he thought the ‘adrenaline would kick back in’ and he would feel healthy enough to play at his usual level.

Butler was 5 of 18 from the floor overall but scored just two points in the fourth, when the Heat collapsed in the quarter.

‘It just wasn’t the case,’ he said. ‘I wasn’t able to do anything on either side of the ball. I think I hurt us more than I helped us actually.’