Wednesday night's Play-In Tournament games averaged 3.25 million viewers across ESPN and ESPN2.

The number is a 25% increase from last year.

The Sixers' win over the Heat averaged 3.4 million viewers, with the Hawks-Bulls nightcap averaged 3.07 million viewers.

Tuesday night's Warriors-Kings game averaged 4.05 million viewers.

Miami Heat wing Jimmy Butler is expected to miss a few weeks due to a sprained MCL. Butler was injured during the Heat's Play-In Tournament loss to the Philadelphia 76ers on Friday.

Butler was able to complete the game, but was visibly hampered. He limped off at the end of the game and was spotted with a visible limp as he left the arena.

The Heat will host the Chicago Bulls in the final Eastern Conference Play-In Tournament game on Friday. The winner advances to play the Boston Celtics in the first round of the playoffs, beginning on Sunday afternoon.

Jimmy Butler is believed to have suffered an MCL injury during Wednesday's loss by the Miami Heat to the Phialdelphia 76ers in the Play-In.

Butler will undergo an MRI and could miss an indefinite period of time.

If the Heat win their Play-In game on Friday, they would play the Boston Celtics in the first round.

The Eastern Conference seeds are set following the end of regular season on Sunday. The first round begins on Saturday, April 20th.

First Round Matchups

• No. 1 Boston Celtics vs. No. 8 (Sixers, Heat, Bulls or Hawks)

• No. 2 New York Knicks vs. No. 7 (Sixers or Heat)

• No. 3 Milwaukee Bucks vs. No. 6 Indiana Pacers

• No. 4 Cleveland Cavaliers vs. No. 5 Orlando Magic

Play-In

• No. 7 Philadelphia 76ers vs. No. 8 Miami Heat

• No. 9 Chicago Bulls vs. No. 10 Atlanta Hawks

Alondes Williams has been named hte 23-24 G League Most Improved Player.

In his second G League season, Williams averaged 21.7 points, 5.4 rebounds and 7.3 assists in 27 games. 

Miami Heat guard Tyler Herro traveled with the team on a three-game road trip. That has created some optimism that Herro is on the cusp of a return, possibly as soon as Friday night. The Heat play at the Houston Rockets on Friday before traveling to play the Indiana Pacers and Atlanta Hawks.

Herro has missed the last 20 games due to a right foot injury. Overall, Herro has played in only 36 games this season.

Miami will welcome the backcourt help, as the Heat are down to Terry Rozier III and Duncan Robinson as playing regular minutes at the guard position. Herro has averaged a career-high 20.8 points and 4.4 assists, along with 5.3 rebounds per game.

In a simple message posted on Instagram, Nemanja Bjelica announced his retirement from playing basketball.

"20 years...Thank you basketball" was Bjelica's message on Saturday afternoon.

The 6-foot-10 forward played for seven seasons in the NBA. Bjelica started his NBA career with the Minnesota Timberwolves in 2015, before moving to the Sacramento Kings in 2018. At the 2021 trade deadline, Bjelica was dealt to the Miami Heat. He then signed with the Golden State Warriors, and helped the team win the 2022 NBA Finals.

Following that NBA title, Bjelica returned to Fenerbahce in Turkey. He had previously played for the Turkish club before coming to the NBA.

Bjelica also played professionally for clubs in his native Serbia and in Spain during his 20-year professional career. The 35-year-old had also suited up for the Serbian national team for several EuroBasket and World Cup competitions, as well as Olympic qualifiers.

Cleveland Cavaliers coach J.B. Bickerstaff and Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra became the latest NBA personnel to speak out against sports betting. After Indiana Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton said he feels like a "prop" because some gamblers complain about his stat-lines, Bickerstaff shared that things have gone further for him and his family.

"I have had my own instances with some of the sports gamblers," Bickerstaff said Wednesday night. "They got my telephone number and were sending me crazy messages about where I live and my kids and all that stuff. It is a dangerous game and a fine like that we’re walking for sure."

Bickerstaff said those instances were reported to NBA security and were handled appropriately. However, Bickerstaff noted he's hearing it in person during games too.

“No doubt it’s crossed the line,” Bickerstaff said. “I’m standing up there and we may have a 10-point lead and the spread is 11 and people are yelling at me to leave the guys in so that we can cover the spread. It’s ridiculous. I understand the business side of it and the nature of the business of it. But it’s something I believe has gone too far.”

Miami Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra relayed a story from a game where security had to intervene with a sports bettor.

"I do think it’s somewhat contradictory," Spoelstra said Wednesday night. "I think it treads on a weird line. We had an incident behind our bench last year with (Victor) Oladipo. Somebody was screaming. Security had to take him away. The game was already over, and evidently, he didn’t shoot an open 3 at the end of the game. The game was already decided, and this fan was totally beside himself, and he was a gambler. He had money on whatever the score was. There’s just a lot of unintended consequences with that from a security standpoint that I’m not sure everybody totally understood."

Tyler Herro hasn't played in a game since February 23rd. Herro is set to miss at least one to two more weeks, as his right foot tendinitis will be reevaluated during that timeframe.

Herro underwent a PRP injection in his right foot on Friday. The hope is that injection will help to alleviate the pain Herro is continuing to feel in his right foot.

This is Herro's second time out of the lineup this year. He previously missed a month from early-November to mid-December due to an ankle injury.

Throughout the career of LeBron James, his teams have rarely had first round picks to add to their roster around him. The Cleveland Cavaliers, Miami Heat and Los Angeles Lakers have combined to trade away 23 total future first round picks during his tenures with those teams, according to ESPN's Bobby Marks and Dave McMenamin.

When James was with the Cavaliers at the start of his career, Luke Jackson, Shannon Brown and J.J. Hickson were the only first rounders added. When James returned to the Lakers in 2015, no first round picks were added during his tenure.

While with the Heat, no first round picks were added as well.

Since joining the Lakers, Jalen Hood-Schifino has been the only first rounder added to the roster.