Warriors guard Jimmy Butler tears ACL in his right knee against Heat, AP source says

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Golden State Warriors star Jimmy Butler tore the ACL in his right knee during the third quarter of a 135-112 victory against his former Miami team Monday night, a person with knowledge of the injury told The Associated Press.

The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the Warriors had not disclosed the results of an MRI exam publicly and wasn't planning to do so until later Tuesday. ESPN and The Athletic earlier reported the same diagnosis of an ACL tear.

Butler was hurt moments after catching a pass in the paint when he went down hard and awkwardly following a collision with the Heat's Davion Mitchell — who was called for a foul. After the play, Butler was asking for two free throws, a positive sign to coach Steve Kerr that his spirits were good.

“We're all really concerned but we'll know more after the MRI,” Kerr said, well before the results were known. “Everybody is subdued because of the injury, waiting to hear the news.”

The news was not good, and now Golden State — with about two weeks until the trade deadline — will have decisions to make about how to attack the remainder of the season without Butler.

Butler's knee buckled upon his landing and he grimaced and grabbed at his knee while down for a couple of minutes. He needed teammates Gary Payton II and Buddy Hield to escort him off the court and to the locker room after the fall on the Warriors' offensive end. When he finally got up with assistance, he was unable to put any pressure on his knee.

“It's something you hadn't seen before, usually you expect him get up and even if he can't finish the game just get off the sideline. I just told him to take his time and figure out what he needed in that moment,” Stephen Curry said. “It's kind of funny he was still cracking jokes over there while he was on the ground in true Jimmy fashion. He's always going to have a good time no matter the situation is. I do love that perspective and that part of his personality, even in the worst of moment he's still having a good time. He was trying to get to the free-throw line, he said it was two shots.”

In just under 21 minutes, Butler had 17 points on 6-for-11 shooting, four assists and three rebounds. He is Golden State's second-leading scorer behind Curry, having averaged 20.1 points, 5.6 rebounds and 4.9 assists entering the week.

“He's an alpha. He's one of those guys in the league who everybody else in the gym knows that's the guy,” Kerr said. “He has that presence but he also has that game where we can play through him possession after possession. So, assuming we'll be without him for a little bit, we're going to miss him, we've got a lot of players who can play and we're showing our depth right now.”

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AP Basketball Writer Tim Reynolds contributed to this report.

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