Miami Heat's Jimmy Butler Ruled Out vs. Sixers on Tuesday
The Miami Heat and the Philadelphia 76ers have been two of a few teams dealing with the unfortunate effects of playing basketball during a pandemic. Lately, the Sixers have had less than ten players available over the last two games.
On the other hand, Miami saw their game against the Boston Celtics get postponed on Sunday as they didn't have at least eight players to suit up. As the Heat and the Sixers are set to face off against each other on Tuesday, both teams will be extremely shorthanded once again.
For the Heat, they'll be without their top performer and leader, Jimmy Butler. Along with Butler, Miami will also play without Bam Adebayo, Avery Bradley, Goran Dragic, Mo Harkless, Udonis Haslem, Kendrick Nunn, and KZ Okpala due to health and safety protocol reasons related to COVID-19.
In addition to those mentioned above, Miami also has three more players listed on the injury report as Myers Leonard is questionable with a shoulder strain, Kelly Olynyk is probable with a groin contusion, and Vincent Gabe is probable with knee soreness.
For the last two matchups, the Sixers have faced nearly fully healthy teams while they're playing shorthanded. On Tuesday, they find themselves a better match as the Heat are missing a good chunk of their key players, too. The Sixers could also get one of their stars back in the mix as Philly's head coach Doc Rivers teased a possible Ben Simmons return.
Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for Sports Illustrated. You can follow him on Twitter: @JGrasso_
