Report: Heat star Jimmy Butler feared to have MCL injury after play-in loss to 76ers

The 76ers snuck out a 105-104 win over the Heat on Wednesday night in their play-in tournament matchup

Jimmy Butler may be sidelined indefinitely with a significant knee injury.

The Miami Heat star is feared to have sustained an MCL injury in their loss to the Philadelphia 76ers in the play-in tournament on Wednesday night, according to The Athletic’s Shams Charania.

Butler is set to undergo an MRI on Thursday to determine the severity of his injury. Though specifics are not yet known, it could very easily sideline him indefinitely — which would knock him out of Friday’s win-or-go-home matchup against either the Atlanta Hawks or Chicago Bulls and potentially well into the playoffs.

Butler went down hard in the first quarter of their 105-104 loss to Philadelphia on Wednesday night while going up for a layup, and he was down on the court in clear pain.

He didn’t exit the game after his fall, however, and ended up dropping 19 points and playing 40 minutes in the loss. Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said that Butler’s knee “started to limit him a little more” as the game went on.

“It had me feeling that I couldn’t do too much,” Butler said, via the South Florida Sun-Sentinel’s Ira Winderman.

Butler was limping quite a bit as he walked off the court at the Wells Fargo Center, too and then his limp seemed significantly worse as he left the arena altogether.

Butler averaged 20.8 points, 5.3 rebounds and five assists per game this season, his fifth with the Heat. He shot just 5-of-18 from the field on Wednesday. Tyler Herro led the Heat with 25 points and nine assists in the loss, and Jaime Jaquez Jr. added 15 points off the bench.

Joel Embiid led the 76ers with 23 points and 15 rebounds in their win on Wednesday. Nicolas Batum added 20 points off of six 3-pointers off the bench, too. The 76ers will now take the No. 7 seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs, which sets them up with a first-round series against the New York Knicks.

Though Butler has not yet been ruled out, he doesn't have much time to recover before Miami’s next game. The Heat will host either the Hawks or Bulls on Friday at the Kesaya Center in a must-win game to claim the final seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs. A win there will send them into a first-round series with the Boston Celtics.