Miami Heat forward Jimmy Butler is expected back for Friday's game against the Orlando Magic at Miami-Dade Arena.
Butler was sidelined Wednesday versus the Boston Celtics. He was a late scratch after sustaining the injury during the morning shootaround. Butler returns to the starting lineup, replacing fill-in Max Strus.
Strus played a large role in the Celtics, scoring all 13 of his points in the first quarter. Butler has missed 15 games this season because of a variety of reasons, including knee soreness.
He is averaging 21 points, 6.1 rebounds and five assists. After a slow start, the Heat are now a season-best five games above .500 at 27-22 and are sixth in the Eastern Conference standings. Last year they entered the postseason as the No. 1 seed before losing to the Celtics in Game 7 of the conference finals.
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