Heat G Jimmy Butler questionable to play Friday vs. Rockets

Miami Heat G Jimmy Butler has been ruled out for Wednesday night’s game vs. the San Antonio Spurs due to an ankle injury. The Heat also placed three players into COVID-19 protocols — PJ Tucker, Gabe Vincent and Max Strus. Miami also has PG Kyle Lowry in H&S protocols. We take a look at how this will impact Wednesday night’s lineup for fantasy basketball and betting.

Jimmy Butler injury updates

Update, Dec. 30 — Butler is being listed as questionable to play in Friday’s game vs. the Houston Rockets due to an ankle injury.

With Butler out, there aren’t many options on the Heat for DFS on DraftKings. The few options we have are going to be pretty appealing, however. Four players stand out — Omer Yurtseven ($4,600), Tyler Herro ($6,900), Duncan Robinson ($5,000) and Caleb Martin ($3,900). Those four are almost guaranteed to see 30+ minutes unless this game gets out of hand early. The thing is, the Spurs are missing PG Dejounte Murray and a few key players as well.

Herro and Yurtseven would be my favorite plays. Robinson and Martin for leverage in tournaments. We have to see who will be available for the Heat and if any players are added to the pool. Marcus Garrett ($3,200) and DJ Stewart ($3,100) could end up playing big minutes as well. We need to gather a bit more info, but keep an eye on those two.

The Spurs were 3-point favorites on the spread before this news. With Butler out, the Heat are going to struggle to form a competitive lineup. We’ll see if this game even gets played. If it does, San Antonio has a chance to win by double digits. Almost all of the handle prior to this news was on the over at 216 points. Depending on where the number falls, we could see the under being a good play if the Heat are unable to sniff 90 points.