4:50pm: The injury is a meniscus tear and Butler is deciding among several options for treatment, tweets Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports.
FEBRUARY 24, 3:47pm: The team has reported that an MRI taken this afternoon revealed a meniscal injury and that more detailed updates as to Butler’s progress will be issued when more information becomes available.
FEBRUARY 23: Jimmy Butler will undergo an MRI on Saturday for a right knee injury that he sustained in the third quarter of the Timberwolves‘ 120-102 loss to the Rockets on Friday, according to the team’s PR department.
Butler underwent X-rays after tonight’s contest, which returned negative, tweets Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports. There is some optimism out of Butler’s camp that he might have avoided a torn ACL, David Aldridge of NBA.com tweets.
With 3:25 left in the third, Butler grabbed an offensive rebound and collapsed to the hardwood after his right knee buckled. Butler was helped off the court by teammates and was not able to put pressure on his injured leg.
Butler, 28, has averaged 22.4 PPG and 5.5 RPG in 55 games this season. He is shooting the ball at a career-best .476% clip and leads the league with 37.5 minutes per game. He was selected as a 2018 NBA All-Star, but sat out the game to rest.
The severity of Butler’s injury is unclear, but Knicks forward Kristaps Porzingis recently suffered a torn ACL as his left knee buckled and forced him to the hardwood in obvious pain.
Needless to say, a season-ending injury to Butler would hamper the Timberwolves’ championship aspirations. Minnesota currently owns fourth place in the Western Conference.
I hope the dudes OK.
Should have taken more rest.
Man, I truly hope Jimmy Buckets is alright, and his injury is not serious. Along with Kawai Leonard, Anthony Davis, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Kevin Durant, and Klay Thompson, Jimmy Butler is definitely one of the game’s absolute best two-way players in today’s NBA..
Also, unlike most, but very similar to Kawai Leonard’s career trajectory, Jimmy Butler has steadily improved his game, every single year!! From a pretty unheralded draft pick out of Marquette, to an all-world NBA All-Star, Butler has tirelessly worked to vault his game to the level of arguably being one of the game’s top 6 best all-around players…
Butler is an all-star on and off the court, and even though he’s no longer a Bull, I’ll always root for the man…Definitely sending my prayers his way, and hopefully this injury will not end his season..
With Butler, Minnesota, very well could have been a team to suprisingly make a push in the playoffs..It would not have suprised me at all to ultimately see the Wolves upset the Spurs and even the Rockets in the playoffs…However, if the Wolves lose Butler, I think, their season will likely end in the first round…
It’s as bad as it looks. Not contact injury. Guaranteeing ACL tear. Hope it’s not for his sake. Suffered 2 personally as a physical therapist myself.
FML. Jimmy was seen saying “it’s torn” as he was carried off the floor.
And we saw what happened when jimmy left. The rockets ripped the wolves apart (they were doing well anyway). There was no d in the fourth quarter and a lot of stupid shots without moving the ball around.
Jimmy is out on the floor directing all the kids. When he’s off the floor it’s like they’re running around like chickens with their heads cut off.
Glad to hear it’s not torn, however I am curious to know the projected time table for his return this year.
See ya in 4-8 weeks Buckets.
Hopefully your Wolves haven’t slipped too far down the standings.