Heat without Butler, Highsmith, Richardson for Christmas game against 76ers

MIAMI — The Miami Heat’s Christmas showcase proved to be less than the full range of Erik Spoelstra’s options.

A day after the Philadelphia 76ers announced that center Joel Embiid did not travel for Monday night’s nationally televised game at Kaseya Center, the Heat announced Monday that Jimmy Butler, Haywood Highsmith and Josh Richardson would be out.

Butler has now missed three consecutive games with the calf strain sustained in last week’s home loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves. He then sat out Wednesday’s road victory over the Orlando Magic and Friday’s home victory over the Atlanta Hawks, with rookie Jaime Jaquez Jr. starting in his place.

The Christmas absence marked the seventh game missed by Butler, who missed the third game of the season for rest, one in early November for a personal reason, two in late November with an ankle sprain, and now these past three with the calf strain.

The Heat went into Monday 3-3 in Butler’s absence.

Butler had missed at least 18 games in each of his first four years with the Heat entering this season.

Highsmith had appeared in four consecutive games before sitting out Monday, after missing the five previous games with a lower-back contusion. Overall, Highsmith has missed 11 games this season, including time missed at the start of the season with a sprained left knee.

Richardson missed his sixth game of the season, having appeared in four consecutive games before being held out Monday.

In addition, the Heat remain with guard Dru Smith for the balance of the season due to the knee injury sustained in the November 22 road victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers. Smith is scheduled for knee surgery Friday.

The timing of the latest absences come with the Heat idle on Tuesday and Wednesday before opening a five-game western swing on Thursday night against the Golden State Warriors. They then do not play again at Kaseya Center until a Jan. 8 game against the Houston Rockets.