Jimmy Butler Out: How Spread & Betting Odds Changed for Hawks vs. Heat in Game 5

Atlanta Hawks vs. Miami Heat

Six-time All-Star and Heat leading scorer Jimmy Butler has been ruled out for Game 5 against the Hawks with inflammation in his right knee.

While a concern on the surface, his absence may not make much of a difference in the short-term. The Heat are among the deepest teams in the NBA and Gabe Vincent, Tyler Herro and Bam Adebayo have filled in admirably when Butler has missed time this season.

The Heat are 15-10 (13-12 against the spread) without Butler this year, including one game late in the season in which Miami started five back-of-the-bench players.

Without that garbage-time game against the Magic, the Heat are 13-11 ATS and 15-9 straight up sans Butler.

Oddsmakers have deemed the absence relatively consequential, however. The line moved from its previous consensus mark of Heat -6.5 to Heat -3.5 in the aftermath of the news.

Betting action immediately moved that line back to its current price of Heat -4.5 a few hours before tipoff.

The moneyline price had hovered around -275 before the news that Butler would miss this contest. That price is now around -175, with the best price on the market with FanDuel at -168.

The total also moved from its opening price of 218 to its current market-low of 215.5. The over at its closing line is 16-9 this season when Butler is out.

Kyle Lowry missed Game 4 and will miss this game, too, with a hamstring problem.

Victor Oladipo filled some of Lowry's roles when the former No. 2 overall pick returned to the Heat lineup in Game 4. Expect Oladipo's role to be elevated substantially as a result of both Butler and Lowry's absences.

Gabe Vincent, too, figures to play a much bigger role — dominating the ball more often — with the duo out.

Same goes for Herro and Adebayo, although both are already vital parts of the rotation.

Expect all four of those players' points props to increase precipitously from their previous prices. No major American sportsbook has uploaded their points, rebounds or assists props since news of Butler's absence.

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