It’s building up to the date Jimmy Butler had a bitter divorce with the Miami Heat and arrived in the Bay. Which made the Miami Heat’s arrival in the Chase Center tonight extra meaningful. But things skidded to a halt in the third quarter of this nailbiter.

The Warriors were up 75-77 at the start of the third quarter when disaster struck. He collided with Heat’s Davion Mitchell during a play, and his legs buckled when he tried to get a short pass. His leg caved in, making him drop the ball and fall to the floor, holding his right knee.

The arena was hushed with fear, and all you could hear was Jimmy screaming in pain. Steve Kerr and the Warriors players gathered around him, and a freeze frame covered the screen. But we could still hear the audio.

Butler kept screaming, “My knee, my knee,” when he was possibly assessed by the Warriors staff. At some point, he may have stood up because the Chase Center crowd cheered. When the game resumed, his best frenemy, Buddy Hield, and Gary Payton II carried him to the locker room with the Warriors staff.

Butler had played over 21 minutes by then. He finished with 17 points, 3 rebounds, 4 assists, and 2 steals.

There was no report on the severity of it. The Warriors officially ruled him out for the rest of the game.

Jimmy Butler gives the Warriors momentum

The last time the Warriors and Heat played against each other was in November 2025. The Dubs were on a tiring road trip in Florida. After playing against the Orlando Magic, neither Stephen Curry nor Jimmy Butler was available the next day against the Miami Heat.

While the injury may have affected his game against the Miami Heat and most likely resulted in the Warriors’ loss, he has had a strong showing this season with an average of 20.1 points, 5.6 rebounds, and 4.9 assists per game. When it comes to field goal percentage, Butler is 24th in the league with 51.9%.

Butler was a late scratch against the Hornets on Saturday. He had to leave right before tip-off because of a personal reason. He was cleared to play in this game.

With Draymond Green also resting an injured foot, Jimmy’s presence was vital tonight. But this injury raises very serious concerns in his first full season as a Dub.

Butler has injured his right knee twice in his career. The recent one was an MCL sprain in 2024 that sidelined him for the Miami Heat’s playoff run. Dub Nation is already fearing it’s the same damage this time too.

He did give the Warriors the momentum they needed. They extended the lead to 114-103 after he was ruled out.

We now have to wait for an update on Jimmy Butler after the game. Fingers crossed it won’t make him miss more than a few games.

UPDATE: MRIs confirmed that Jimmy Butler suffered a torn right ACL. He is ruled out for the rest of the season.