Heat coach Erik Spoelstra was disappointed with the league’s decision to suspend Jimmy Butler one game for the altercation between his club and the Pelicans on Friday, according to Anthony Chiang of the Miami Herald.
Nikola Jovic was also assessed a one-game suspension and Thomas Bryant received a three-game penalty. The Heat will be in action on Monday in Sacramento, so Bryant, Butler, and Jovic will miss that game. Bryant will also si out the team’s contests in Portland on Tuesday and Denver on Thursday.
“I had no idea what to expect,” Spoelstra said. “You know, at this point, it doesn’t really matter. They’ve made their decision on that. It felt like Jimmy shouldn’t have gotten a game on that. It’s really just kind of a tangling and a little bit of pushing. I don’t think that deserves another game because he ended up having to miss the fourth quarter. But it is what it is.”
Butler expected to receive some sort of suspension.
“It doesn’t surprise me, man. It doesn’t,” he said. “I’m basically still on All-Star break.”
We have more on the Heat:
- Bryant had a confrontation with Jose Alvarado after leaving the bench but wasn’t planning on getting involved in any fisticuffs. “From my point of view, I was coming in to be a peacemaker,” Bryant said, per Chiang. “I didn’t want any of my teammates to get hurt, I certainly didn’t want to get hurt at all. It just didn’t work out in the favor that I wanted.”
- In the same story, Chiang reports that Terry Rozier could return on Monday after missing three games with a right knee strain. Rozier is listed as questionable. “He’s on the road trip for a reason,” Spoelstra said. “He’s working toward getting back. When that day will be, I don’t know yet. But he’s definitely making progress. His body will let us know.”
- Tyler Herro will get an MRI after suffering a hyperextended left knee against the Pelicans. He’s also listed as questionable to play Monday and is optimistic that he won’t miss time, Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel writes. “It’s feeling good,” Herro said. “I’m going to get an MRI just for peace of mind, to make sure everything is good.”
4-8 is kind of bunched up in the East. Things can change by the end of season. Magic are still new to me. Pacers is a team you need to take serious. Especially in first rd. Heat will start playing for playoffs. The East is going to be a dog fight this yr. It’s best to finish top 6 imo. So I expect teams to make a push now. Only 25 gms left. Knicks with their injuries could start to fall.
I’m predicting we fall along with the sixers. Indy rises to 4th and Miami to 5th. We end up 6th and Philly drops to the play-in.
As a sixer fan I hate you but agree.
They’ll probalby have dropped to an 8 seed within a few weeks. Chicago and Atlanta can’t catch them but everyone else will.
Does Philly really want Embiid to come back for a first round matchup against Boston?
Shut him down until next year, Get him healthy AND save face.
NYK have to be prepared for a stretch run and possible playoff season without Randle, or Mitch, or at least without them at full strength. The DET trade would make more sense if that turns out to be the case. BB is a very different player than Randle, but he can add an offensive option at the 4.
Randle will almost certainly come back, but he will almost as certainly come back too soon. That’s his history. Mitch, on the other hand, has always been a slow healer, with a tendency to re-injure himself.