NBA Game Preview - Miami at Atlanta

Thu Oct 31, 2019 7:00 PM EDT

The Miami Heat will have their star in the lineup Thursday for their rematch with Atlanta, but the Hawks will be missing their elite player.

Jimmy Butler, acquired as part of a sign-and-trade over the summer, made his Miami debut on Tuesday and led the Heat to a 112-97 win over Atlanta.

Meanwhile, the Hawks lost point guard Trae Young, the NBA's Eastern Conference Player of the Week. Young injured his ankle on Tuesday and won't play when the teams get together again at Atlanta's State Farm Arena.

Butler scored 12 points in the first quarter and finished with 21 in his first game with his new team, a debut that was put on hold due to the arrival of his newborn daughter.

"All good things," Butler said. "We won. Obviously, I'm a father, but I'm blessed beyond measure. I get to play basketball with some incredible guys, for an incredible organization. Life is good right now."

Butler's late arrival allowed rookie Tyler Herro to get off to a great start. In his first game as a non-starter, he came off the bench to score a career-high 29. Goran Dragic, who has become the team's sixth man, scored 21 on Tuesday.

Miami's Kendrick Nunn has made history in the first four games of his rookie season. He scored 17 on Tuesday, giving him 84 points, the most by any Miami player in his first four NBA games as a member of the Heat. The previous best was 73 by Willie Burton to begin the 1990-91 season.

Young was injured in the second quarter of Tuesday's game in Miami. He came down awkwardly on his right ankle and needed help getting off the court. He did not return and afterward was seen on crutches with his ankle wrapped. He will be re-evaluated on Monday.

"It's definitely something that they want me to stay off it as much as possible right now, so not putting too much weight on it," Young said.

That leaves the Hawks in trouble at point guard. Veteran backup Evan Turner missed Tuesday's game with pain in his left Achilles. If he can't go, that leaves Atlanta with rookies Cam Reddish and De'Andre Hunter or Tyrone Wallace, who the team claimed off waivers on Oct. 23.

"(Young has) got 80-something games under his belt," Atlanta coach Lloyd Pierce said. "Cam's got four. Kevin (Huerter) is coming off injury and De'Andre's got four. So, we're going to miss anybody, at this stage in our career. Trae's an elite player and he's our primary ball handler. Those other guys will be fine, we've just got to get them some games."

Young's scoring also will be missed. He is averaging 26.8 points, as well as 7.3 assists. More will be expected of John Collins, the third-year power forward. Collins is averaging 18.3 points and 9.3 rebounds. Collins scored 30 and made a career-high five 3-pointers against the Heat on Tuesday.

This is the second of four games between the two clubs this year; they won't play again until Dec. 10 in Miami. The Hawks won three of their four meetings against the Heat last season, but Miami has won the past two games. Atlanta has a two-game winning streak on its home court.

--Field Level Media