What happened with Jimmy Butler? Heat superstar's absence against Celtics explored

Jimmy Butler will not be available when the Miami Heat (28-24) welcome the team with the best record in the NBA, the Boston Celtics (40-12), on Sunday. In a rematch of the 2022 and 2023 Eastern Conference Finals, the Heat have ruled their best player out due to a family matter.

Butler's agent and the team released a statement to announce that the Al-Star forward will miss some time due to the death of a family member.

"Jimmy Butler has been granted a leave of absence as he deals with the death of a family member. Jimmy and his family ask for privacy at this point in time as they navigate this loss. Updates will be given when appropriate," Shams Charania of The Atheltic reports.

It's still unclear how much time the superstar forward will miss, as Miami will look to extend its winning streak to three games and maintain their top-six seed push in the East.

Meanwhile, the Celtics have won their last three games and are five games ahead of the Cleveland Cavaliers, who hold second place (35-16).

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Jimmy Butler says his focus with the Heat is 'always to win'

Jimmy Butler and the Miami Heat have exceeded expectations since the All-Star forward arrived in 2019. They have played in the Eastern Conference Finals three times (2020, 2022, 2023) and the NBA Finals twice (2020, 2023).

Even though they have not won the championship over this four-year period, Jimmy Butler doesn't back down and has his sights set on leading the Heat to the top.

"My focus is always to win," Butler said on Wednesday, via NBA.com, after posting his first triple-double in two years. He had 17 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists, as the Heat rallied past the San Antonio Spurs (104-116). It was the first time that he posted a triple-double since January 2022.

Jimmy Butler is averaging 21.4 points, 5.5 rebounds and 4.6 assists so far, on 44.0 percent from beyond the arc.

He has appeared in 37 of Miami's first 52 games. The Heat are hopeful that the personal matter won't cost him much time, as they aim to push for a top-four finish in the East.

Miami will host a Boston team that leads their season series 2-0. They beat the Heat early in the season (Oct. 28, 111-119) and a couple of weeks ago (143-110).

"What went wrong is that we faced a very potent offensive team that's been doing this for several months now. It was a humbling night. They put us in our place," coach Erik Spoelstra said regarding the blowout loss on January 26.

With Butler out, the Celtics have emerged as favorite to win their third straight vs the Heat this season and make another step towards securing the best record in the league.