Timberwolves’ Jimmy Butler diagnosed with meniscus tear in right knee
The Minnesota Timberwolves are a team on the rise in the NBA with Tom Thibodeau calling the shots from the sideline and perennial All-Star Jimmy Butler leading the way on the floor. Unfortunately, the team’s impressive season has taken a turn for the worst after the loss to the Houston Rockets on Friday night.
According to Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports, Butler suffered a knee injury against the Rockets that may ultimately end his season or at the very least keep him out a considerable amount of time.
Minnesota Timberwolves All-Star Jimmy Butler has been diagnosed with a meniscus tear in his right knee and is determining treatment options, league sources told Yahoo Sports.
An MRI on Saturday revealed the injury after X-rays were taken on Butler’s knee Friday night and returned negative. Butler’s non-contact injury early in the third quarter of Friday night’s loss to the Houston Rockets brought concerns about a possible ACL tear, but there was optimism around Butler regarding the final diagnosis.
Butler’s injury is devastating to the Timberwolves’ hopes of being a force in the upcoming NBA playoffs. Minnesota relies heavily on their star guard/forward as he has proven to be as important to the team as LeBron James is for the Cleveland Cavaliers. He is simply irreplaceable and could drastically change the team’s outcome the rest of the way during the 2017-18 campaign.
Currently, the Timberwolves are sitting in the fourth seed in the Western Conference with a record of 36-26. Although that is an impressive feat for a team trying to end their playoff drought which has lasted for more than a decade, the fourth seed and the 10th seed in the West are only separated by three games right now meaning Minnesota could conceivably be out of the playoff race with a bad stretch of games without Butler on the floor.
The potential season-ending injury Butler suffered may have ended the team’s hopes of being a force to be reckoned with come playoff time with the team’s odds to win the West no longer being all that favorable.
