NBA Rumors: Heat’s Jimmy Butler is ‘on track’ to play in Game 3 vs. New York Knicks?

NBA Rumors: After missing Game 2 on the road, it’s looking more and more like the Miami Heat will be with Jimmy Butler in Game 3 vs. the New York Knicks.

It’s been quite the unlikely NBA Playoff run by the Miami Heat. However, their momentum took an unfortunate hit toward the end of the team’s Game 1 win in the Eastern Conference semifinals against the New York Knicks. Jimmy Butler turned his ankle in the waning minutes of Game 1 and it cost him Game 2. Without Jimmy, the Knicks took care of business in protecting their home floor.

It wasn’t pretty but the Knicks did enough to tie the series at one game apiece. With the series shifting to Miami, the big question heading into Game 3 revolves around whether Jimmy will be healthy enough to play.

The good news is that there are still two days until Game 3, which is slated for Saturday afternoon. But the early indications are good. According to Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald, there’s a growing optimism surrounding Butler’s availability heading into the weekend.

Jimmy Butler has been the best player in the NBA Playoffs

Why is this such a big deal? Well, as we’ve seen through two games in this series, Jimmy has the ability to flip this series on a dime. He’s arguably been the best player not just in this series, but in the entire league through the first few weeks of the NBA Playoffs.

Through six games played in the postseason, Jimmy is averaging 36 points, seven rebounds, and five assists on 59 percent shooting from the field and 43 percent shooting from 3-point range. In those six games, the Heat is 5-1 and fresh off one of the biggest upsets in NBA history.

It’s not fair to expect Jimmy to continue to play at this level but there’s no question that his availability is key to this magical run that the Heat have been on over the past few weeks.

If Jimmy is healthy, it completely changes this series. Similarly, it’s the same thing if he isn’t healthy.

This series between the Heat and Knicks appears to be going the distance. These are two equally matched teams and I believe that will end up proving to be so in the rest of this series.

That said, there’s no question that Miami needs a healthy Jimmy to have that punching chance to complete this magical run to the Eastern Conference Finals. That’s what’s most important for the Heat right now.