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Will Jimmy Butler Play Tonight? Miami Heat vs Boston Celtics: Injury Reports, Lineups, and Predictions

Published 01/06/2021, 4:30 PM EST

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USA Today via Reuters

Two strong teams, the Miami Heat and Boston Celtics are set to lock horns on Wednesday. This exciting fixture will be a small recap of last year’s Eastern Conference Finals, but the Celtics will be looking to get their revenge this time around. 

Venue: AmericanAirlines Arena

Time: 7:30 PM ET (January 6, 2021)

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Both the Heat and Celtics won their previous games and will look to extend their winning run heading into this fixture. It would be a battle of two tactical head coaches and hence, a victory wouldn’t be straightforward for either team. 

Miami Heat vs Boston Celtics – Injury Report and Lineups

Miami Heat

The Heat are coming off a comfortable victory against the Oklahoma City Thunder. Bam Adebayo is currently leading the statistic charts for Miami, as Jimmy Butler has been on and off with his injury. 

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USA Today via Reuters

Miami isn’t enjoying the best of starts to their regular-season campaign, but they’re still a well-balanced unit capable of taking down the big guns. As they prepare for Boston, only two players are listed as questionable for the game. 

The Heat might play without 24-year-old point guard Gabe Vincent (knee), and swingman Maurice Harkless (forearm contusion), but the others in the roster are healthy and ready to go. 

Possible Lineup

Tyler Herro (G)

Duncan Robinson (G)

Jimmy Butler (F)

Kelly Olynyk (F)

Bam Adebayo (C)

Boston Celtics

As for the Cs, their situation is similar to what it was at the start of the season as Kemba Walker is sidelined due to injury. However, the dynamic duo of Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown has been massively filling in the void and getting the Ws. 

USA Today via Reuters

Brown is the leading scorer of the team with 26.9 PPG in eight fixtures, but Tatum isn’t far behind. This combo has been on fire since the start and is expected to fire big when they travel to Miami for their fourth-successive road game of the season. 

Besides the obvious absentees, Boston also has a couple of more players who are added to the questionable list. Point guard Jeff Teague (ankle) is listed as probable, while Marcus Smart’s participation is also doubtful against the Miami Heat. 

Possible Lineup

Marcus Smart (G)

Jaylen Brown (G)

Jayson Tatum (F)

Daniel Thies (F)

Tristan Thompson (C)

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Prediction

This game will go right down to the wire, and that’s for sure. The Celtics have been better in terms of scoring when compared to the Heat. On the other hand, Miami has been good defensively, so it will be a good battle between attack versus defense. 

USA Today via Reuters

This fixture can go either way, but the odds are leaning towards the Boston Celtics due to their impeccable form. If Tatum or Brown get going, the Celtics will undoubtedly run away with the win and improve their record to 6-3 in the regular-season! 

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Written by:

Arjun Athreya

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Arjun Athreya is a senior writer at Essentially Sports and has been contributing since early 2020. Having developed an avid interest in sports at an early age, he pursued a Journalism degree and graduated from Madras Christian College. Arjun manages the Golf division and its content, and primarily covers news pertaining to the NBA as well.
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