Knicks at Heat, Game 3: Will Jimmy Butler Return in South Beach?

The New York Knicks will have a little extra to worry about on Saturday afternoon, as the Miami Heat are set to get back playoff superstar Jimmy Butler.

Eager to take a 2-1 series lead on the New York Knicks in their Eastern Conference semifinal matchup, the Miami Heat are calling the Butler.

Postseason hero Jimmy Butler will suit up and partake in the Game 3 showdown between New York and Miami on Saturday afternoon (3:30 p.m. ET, ABC). The South Beach superstar missed the second game of the best-of-seven on Tuesday set due to an ankle injury sustained in the final five stages of Sunday's opener. New York knotted the series with a 111-105 triumph sans Butler.

Despite his injury, Butler, the headliner of the eighth-seeded Heat's upset victory over top-ranked Milwaukee, played the final five minutes of Miami's Game 1 victory, scoring a 25-point, 11-rebound double-double. The injury occurred when he rolled his ankle on the foot of defender Josh Hart. Though he was rendered mostly immobile, he was able to supervise the final stages of the Heat's 108-101 win to go up 1-0. 

In his absence, Miami kept pace with the Knicks on Tuesday in Manhattan, leading for a good portion of the second game before the Knicks pulled away thanks primarily to 23 second-half points for Jalen Brunson. The Knicks also benefitted from the return of Julius Randle,  who likewise tallied a double-double as he returned from an ankle injury of his own. The series now shifts to Miami, where the Heat took both of their first games against the Bucks.

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Geoff Magliocchetti is on Twitter @GeoffJMags

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