Heat’s Jimmy Butler joins Sixers’ Joel Embiid as stars missing Christmas game with injuries
Butler has a calf strain that will force him to miss the Sixers game.
MIAMI — So much for the best players competing in the Christmas Day showdown between the 76ers and Miami Heat.
Six-time Heat All-Star Jimmy Butler will miss the 8 p.m. contest at Kaseya Arena with a calf strain. This comes one day after the Sixers announced that Joel Embiid, the reigning MVP, would miss the game with a sprained right ankle.
Embiid didn’t make the trip to South Florida with his teammates Sunday. He has not been ruled out for Wednesday’s game against against the Orlando Magic at the Kia Center. Sixers forward Nicolas Batum, who made the trip, will also miss Monday’s game a right hamstring strain.
Meanwhile, the Heat are also without Josh Richardson, Haywood Highsmith, and Dru Smith. Richardson is dealing with back spasms. Highsmith has a non-COVID cold, and Smith is out with a right ACL sprain.
This game is a matchup between two of the Eastern Conference’s elite teams.
The Sixers are third in the conference with a 20-8 record. They’ve won eight of their last nine games. Miami is in fifth place at 17-12. After a rough stretch, the Heat are starting to find their rhythm, winning five of their last seven games.