Tonight, the Atlanta Hawks will take the floor in hopes of staving off elimination as they trail the Miami Heat 3-1 in the first round of the NBA playoffs. If the Heat hope to close out the series in South Beach tonight, they’ll have to do it without their leading scorer.
Just hours before tipoff, the Heat announced that Jimmy Butler, who leads the team with 30.5 points per game in the series—will miss game five due to right knee inflammation.
With Butler out, the Heat will now be without two of their starters as Kyle Lowry remains out with a hamstring injury that he suffered in game three—the Hawks' lone win in the series. Additionally, P.J. Tucker (calf) and Caleb Martin (ankle) are questionable for tonight’s game.
As for the Hawks, Clint Capela rejoined the rotation Sunday while still dealing with the knee injury he suffered in the play-in game again the Cavs. He is questionable for Atlanta tonight along with Bogdan Bogdanovic (right knee soreness). Lou Williams remains out due to a back injury.
If the Hawks can keep their season alive tonight, the series will shift back to Atlanta for a potential game six on Thursday.
