Jimmy Butler added to Heat injury report with knee soreness, Kyle Lowry still out vs. Knicks

As the Miami Heat enters one of the most important games of its season, it faces the possibility of playing without star Jimmy Butler.

Butler is listed as questionable for Friday’s critical game against the New York Knicks (8 p.m., Bally Sports Sun) because of right knee soreness.

Heat still searching for answers late in season, as play-in tournament possibility looms

This comes after Butler left the Heat’s bench with about 10 minutes left in the fourth quarter of Wednesday’s blowout loss to the Philadelphia 76ers at Miami-Dade Arena to get treatment for right knee soreness. Heat coach Erik Spoelstra didn’t seem overly concerned about Butler’s health following that game and there remains optimism that Butler will be able to play on Friday against the Knicks.

“Just a little bit of knee soreness,” Spoelstra said when asked about Butler leaving the bench before Wednesday’s game was over. “We were down 25 at that point. He was just going to try to loosen it up, get a little bit of treatment. If we got it to under 10, I’m sure he would have been right back.”

Butler, 33, has played in 14 straight games and in 25 of the last 26 games. But Butler’s right knee has been giving him problems for most of the season.

Butler missed seven games in November because of right knee soreness and then was held out of one of the games in each of the Heat’s three back-to-back sets in December as part of the team’s injury management plan for his knee.

Butler, who has been held out of 15 games this season, is averaging a team-high 21.8 points to go with 5.9 rebounds, five assists and two steals per game while shooting 52 percent from the field this season. The Heat has outscored teams by 1.7 points per 100 possessions with Butler on the court but has been outscored by 3.9 points per 100 possessions with Butler off the court this season.

Also on the Heat’s injury report for Friday’s game against the Knicks: Jamal Cain (G League, two way contract), Nikola Jovic (lower back stress reaction), Kyle Lowry (left knee soreness) and Omer Yurtseven (G League, assignment) remain out.

Lowry, who watched Wednesday’s loss from the Heat’s bench, will miss his 11th straight game because of left knee pain. The Heat and Lowry continue to take a cautious approach with the injury, but the belief is he’s moving closer to an eventual return.

“Same process. But he’s making progress,” Spoelstra said when asked Wednesday where Lowry stands in his recovery.

Meanwhile, the Knicks’ injury report for Friday’s game only includes DaQuan Jeffries, Trevor Keels and Duane Washington Jr., who have all been ruled out for the contest because they are on G League assignments.

The Heat is currently in play-in tournament territory in seventh place in the Eastern Conference standings at 33-30 with only 19 games remaining on its regular-season schedule. To make the playoffs without needing to go through the play-in tournament, the Heat needs to finish the regular season as a top-six seed in the East.

The Heat has dropped five of its last six games and is 1-3 since the All-Star break.