MIAMI (AP) — Jimmy Butler says he wants to play in the NBA playoffs, though there's no timetable for his return from a sprained MCL.
The Miami Heat forward spoke to TNT during a first-quarter stoppage of his team's Eastern Conference first-round game against the Boston Celtics on Saturday night, as he watched from the team's bench area. Butler got hurt in the play-in round against Philadelphia and has missed all four Heat games since.
“I don’t know about a timeline, but we’ve been working,” Butler said during the televised interview. “I want to hoop. I want to get out here. I want some of this.”
The preliminary assessment on Butler was that he would miss multiple weeks because of the knee injury, which happened in the first quarter of the game at Philadelphia — before Butler played through it for the final three quarters of that game.
Butler has been getting treatment in the days since, but the team has not revealed any more specific timeframe about when he could play again.
Miami is playing this series without Butler and point guard Terry Rozier, who is sidelined with a neck injury. The Heat went to the NBA Finals last year as the eighth seed in the East, and Butler said the team's confidence remains high even as a No. 8 seed taking on a Celtics team that finished the regular season with the NBA's best record.
“I think we believe," Butler said. "It’s everybody else that don’t.”
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Philadelphia 76ers' Joel Embiid, left, talks with Miami Heat's Jimmy Butler following an NBA basketball play-in tournament game Wednesday, April 17, 2024, in Philadelphia. The 76ers won 105-104. (AP Photo/Chris Szagola)
Miami Heat's Jimmy Butler, right, gets treatment on his right knee from the training staff during the first half of the team's NBA basketball play-in tournament game against the Philadelphia 76ers, Wednesday, April 17, 2024, in Philadelphia. The 76ers won 105-104. (AP Photo/Chris Szagola)
BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Catalonia is holding a regional election on Sunday whose outcome will reverberate in Spain’s national politics.
The ballot will be a test both for the strength of the separatist movement in the wealthy northeastern part of Spain and for the policies of Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez.
More than 5.7 million voters are eligible to choose lawmakers for the regional parliament based in Barcelona.
Separatists have held the regional government for more than a decade. But polling and a national election in July show that support for secession has shrunk somewhat since former regional president Carles Puigdemont led an illegal — and futile — breakaway bid in 2017.
Puigdemont is a fugitive from Spain's laws since he fled the country days after his failed secession attempt. But that isn't stopping him from running in this election as he campaigns from southern France. He has said that he will return to Spain when the newly elected lawmakers convene to choose a regional president at some point after the election.
By that time, Puigdemont hopes to be cleared of any legal troubles after Spain’s parliament gives final approval to a contentious amnesty for him and hundreds of other separatists.
The amnesty forms part of Sánchez’s intense push to reduce tensions in Catalonia that also included the pardoning of jailed high-profile separatists. If voters don't validate that by coming out in support of his Socialist party, then it would be a blow to the leader who heads a minority coalition in Madrid.
Sánchez has campaigned alongside Salvador Illa, the candidate of the Socialists. Illa won the most votes in a 2021 regional election but was unable to stop separatist Pere Aragonès from forming a government.
The election will feature a battle inside the separatist camp between Puigdemont’s conservative Together party and Aragonès’s Republican Left of Catalonia.
An upstart pro-secession, far-right party called Catalan Alliance, which rails against unauthorized immigration as well as the Spanish state, will hope to earn parliamentary representation.
A total of nine parties are running and no single one is expected to come close to winning enough votes to reach the absolute majority of 68 seats in the chamber. So deal-making will be critical.
A torn up poster showing partially a portrait of Catalan president and ERC candidate Pere Aragonès in downtown Barcelona, Spain, Thursday, May 9, 2024. About 6 million Catalans are casting ballots in a regional election that will test if Catalonia wants pro-independence leader Carles Puigdemont back or if the wealthy region has moved on to more pressing worries. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
People walk past electoral posters showing a portrait of fugitive former regional president Carles Puigdemont in downtown Barcelona, Spain, Thursday, May 9, 2024. About 6 million Catalans are casting ballots in a regional election that will test if Catalonia wants pro-independence leader Carles Puigdemont back or if the wealthy region has moved on to more pressing worries (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
Former regional president Carles Puigdemont poses for a photo during a campaign rally in Argelers, France, Wednesday, May 8, 2024. About 6 million Catalans are casting ballots in a regional election that will test if Catalonia wants pro-independence leader Carles Puigdemont back or if the wealthy region has moved on to more pressing worries. (AP Photo/Joan Mateu)
A voter prepares to cast his ballot for Catalonia's regional elections in La Roca del Vallès, north of Barcelona, Sunday May 12, 2024. About 6 million Catalans are casting ballots in a regional election that will test if Catalonia wants pro-independence leader Carles Puigdemont back or if the wealthy region has moved on to more pressing worries.(AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
A voter prepares to cast his ballot for Catalonia's regional elections in La Roca del Vallès, north of Barcelona, Sunday May 12, 2024. About 6 million Catalans are casting ballots in a regional election that will test if Catalonia wants pro-independence leader Carles Puigdemont back or if the wealthy region has moved on to more pressing worries.(AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
Socialist candidate Salvador Illa talks to journalists after voting at a polling station in La Roca del Valles, north of Barcelona, Sunday May 12, 2024. Catalonia is holding a regional election on Sunday whose outcome will be a test both for the strength of the separatist movement and for the policies of Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez.(AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
Socialist candidate Salvador Illa casts his ballot at a polling station in La Roca del Valles, north of Barcelona, Sunday May 12, 2024. Catalonia is holding a regional election on Sunday whose outcome will be a test both for the strength of the separatist movement and for the policies of Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez.(AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
A voter holds his puppy as he casts his ballot for Catalonia's regional elections in La Roca del Vallès, north of Barcelona, Sunday May 12, 2024. About 6 million Catalans are casting ballots in a regional election that will test if Catalonia wants pro-independence leader Carles Puigdemont back or if the wealthy region has moved on to more pressing worries.(AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
An early voter casts his ballot for Catalonia's regional elections in La Roca del Vallès, north of Barcelona, Sunday May 12, 2024. About 6 million Catalans are casting ballots in a regional election that will test if Catalonia wants pro-independence leader Carles Puigdemont back or if the wealthy region has moved on to more pressing worries. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
