After undergoing surgery on his meniscus in late February, Minnesota Timberwolves wing Jimmy Butler will make his return Friday vs. the Lakers. According to Marc Stein of The New York Times, Butler will make his long-awaited return after going through one final test in warmups.
Timberwolves guard Jimmy Butler is planning to return to Minnesota’s lineup Friday night against the Los Angeles Lakers to begin his comeback from February knee surgery, according to two people familiar with Butler’s decision.
Butler is expected to go through one final test in Friday night’s pregame warm-ups in Los Angeles but has targeted this game for his full-fledged return after watching Thursday night’s loss at Denver from the bench in uniform.
Jimmy Butler was also available last night but didn’t log a single minute so it remains to be seen how much he truly plays tonight, as he is still officially listed as questionable.
With only three regular-season matchups standing between Minnesota and the postseason, Butler’s return will provide the team with a major spark. After getting off to a slow start to the season, Butler found his footing and emerged as a fringe MVP candidate before suffering his knee injury.
For the Wolves, Butler’s re-insertion into the lineup is a welcome sight. Their play as of late has been up and down but with Butler finally returning, they hope these final three games will be enough to get him re-acclimated ahead of the postseason.
With Jimmy Butler on the floor, the Wolves are a whole different team as he gives them a superstar presence on both ends. Though young big man Karl-Anthony Towns has been stellar recently, the game results have been mixed and their recent losses have cost them in a tight Western Conference playoff race.
In fact, their sporadic play has dropped them into a tie for the eighth and final playoff spot with the Denver Nuggets. Both teams have mustered a 44-35 record through 79 games, setting up for some drama in their final three games.
Both the Nuggets and Wolves will actually meet in their last regular season matchup with two games before that. The Wolves currently hold the tiebreaker and will play the Lakers and Grizzlies before their finale against Denver. For the Nuggets, they will battle the Blazers and Clippers before finally meeting Minnesota.
