The suddenly free-falling and injury-plagued Chicago Bulls will be without their star guard for the next three-to-four weeks.
The team announced on Tuesday that Jimmy Butler will be out up to a month after suffering a sprained knee against the Denver Nuggets last week. Butler has missed the past two games with the injury:
Butler, 26, is averaging a career high 22.4 points while shooting 46 percent from the field this season. He was selected to his second consecutive All-Star Game, which he will now miss due to the aforementioned injury.
With Joakim Noah lost for the season and Nikola Mirotic out until at least late February, the Bulls find themselves in a precarious position back east. They are currently the seventh seed in the conference with a 27-24 record.
We can expect both Tony Snell and E'Twaun Moore to see more playing time with Butler sidelined.