Jimmy Butler of the Heat officially returns early to Miami after recovering from his foot injury.

Phoenix — The traveling party shrank as the Miami Heat headed to Footprint Center on Friday night for the final game of their five-game road trip against the Phoenix Suns.

Moving forward Jimmy Butler made his way back to Miami on Friday, having missed the previous three games due to a right foot sprain that is currently diagnosed as a first MP joint sprain on Wednesday night’s game against the Los Angeles Lakers.

Regarding Butler’s continued status as day-to-day, coach Erik Spoelstra stated on Friday, “The diagnosis is still the same.” “We believed that training in our facility and engaging in more activities around the clock would be beneficial for him.”

Butler has now missed seven of the previous eight games due to his absence in Phoenix. He missed the first four games due to a strained left calf, but he made a comeback during the trip’s second game against the Utah Jazz last Saturday. In the third quarter of the game against the Jazz, he was then injured.

With Butler’s most recent injury, Spoelstra downplayed the possibility of an extended absence for the player. After the Heat’s morning shootaround at Arizona State University, he stated, “We’ll treat it day to day and we’ll see how he’s doing when we get back to Miami.” Haywood Highsmith, a forward, returned to Miami following what turned out to be a concussion in the final moments of the team’s defeat in Utah. Highsmith had missed the previous three games in addition to nine of the previous 15, including absences for illness and lower back strain.

Center Following Wednesday’s victory, Orlando Robinson left the team to get more experience with the Heat’s G League affiliate, the Sioux Falls Skyforce. While playing for the Skyforce, Robinson missed the first two games of the western swing along with the Heat. Robinson was only allowed to play four minutes of mop-up duty during the Heat trip, as Spoelstra stated, “We just want him to get as many minutes as possible.” “If we have our health here, we want to send him whenever we can. The entire time, it has been fairly fluid. However, we want all of our young guys and guys, whether they are with us or in Sioux Falls, to get some game action.