Jesse Johnson-USA TODAY Sports. Pictured: Minnesota Timberwolves guard Jimmy Butler.
- On Wednesday afternoon, Timberwolves head coach Tom Thibodeau announced Jimmy Butler would miss tonight's game against the Utah Jazz (8 p.m. ET) due to "general soreness."
- Jeff Teague will also miss the game, while Andrew Wiggins is listed as questionable.
- Eighty percent of spread bettors are on the Jazz, who have moved from -2.5 to -6.5 since opening.
The Jimmy Butler saga continues! After a couple of weeks on the back burner, the heat has been turned up.
Timberwolves head coach Tom Thibodeau announced shortly after noon ET that Butler would miss tonight’s game against the Jazz due to general soreness.
The Timberwolves are 3-4 on the season and 3-3 in games Butler has played. The All-Star guard is averaging 22.5 points on 50.5% shooting to go with 5.3 boards and 3.3 assists.
Tonight, the T’wolves go up against the 4-2 Jazz without Butler and Jeff Teague, who will be out with an actual knee injury. Andrew Wiggins might also miss the game with a quad injury.
It’s not exactly the best night to be “generally sore.”
Considering Butler’s value to the spread, the line in this game has moved quite a bit since opening.
Before Butler’s status update, bettors were already on the Jazz, moving the line from Utah -2.5 to -3. Immediately following the news, sportsbooks adjusted the line from -3 to -5.5/-6.
The big line move didn’t change the minds of bettors, either. The Jazz, who were receiving 81% of bets before Butler was declared out, are still receiving 80% of bets at the time of writing.
With the continuing onslaught of Utah activity, the line moved even further to -6.5 around 2:45 p.m. ET.