01/20/26 01:49:00
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01/20 13:48 CST Warriors guard Jimmy Butler tears ACL in his right knee against
Heat, AP source says
Warriors guard Jimmy Butler tears ACL in his right knee against Heat, AP source
says
By JANIE McCAULEY
AP Sports Writer
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) --- Golden State Warriors star Jimmy Butler tore the ACL in
his right knee during the third quarter of a 135-112 victory against his former
Miami team Monday night, a person with knowledge of the injury told The
Associated Press.
The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the Warriors had not
disclosed the results of an MRI exam publicly and wasn't planning to do so
until later Tuesday. ESPN and The Athletic earlier reported the same diagnosis
of an ACL tear.
Butler was hurt moments after catching a pass in the paint when he went down
hard and awkwardly following a collision with the Heat's Davion Mitchell ---
who was called for a foul. After the play, Butler was asking for two free
throws, a positive sign to coach Steve Kerr that his spirits were good.
"We're all really concerned but we'll know more after the MRI," Kerr said, well
before the results were known. "Everybody is subdued because of the injury,
waiting to hear the news."
The news was not good, and now Golden State --- with about two weeks until the
trade deadline --- will have decisions to make about how to attack the
remainder of the season without Butler.
Butler's knee buckled upon his landing and he grimaced and grabbed at his knee
while down for a couple of minutes. He needed teammates Gary Payton II and
Buddy Hield to escort him off the court and to the locker room after the fall
on the Warriors' offensive end. When he finally got up with assistance, he was
unable to put any pressure on his knee.
"It's something you hadn't seen before, usually you expect him get up and even
if he can't finish the game just get off the sideline. I just told him to take
his time and figure out what he needed in that moment," Stephen Curry said.
"It's kind of funny he was still cracking jokes over there while he was on the
ground in true Jimmy fashion. He's always going to have a good time no matter
the situation is. I do love that perspective and that part of his personality,
even in the worst of moment he's still having a good time. He was trying to get
to the free-throw line, he said it was two shots."
In just under 21 minutes, Butler had 17 points on 6-for-11 shooting, four
assists and three rebounds. He is Golden State's second-leading scorer behind
Curry, having averaged 20.1 points, 5.6 rebounds and 4.9 assists entering the
week.
"He's an alpha. He's one of those guys in the league who everybody else in the
gym knows that's the guy," Kerr said. "He has that presence but he also has
that game where we can play through him possession after possession. So,
assuming we'll be without him for a little bit, we're going to miss him, we've
got a lot of players who can play and we're showing our depth right now."
___
AP Basketball Writer Tim Reynolds contributed to this report.
___
AP NBA: https://apnews.com/NBA
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