Sixers’ Jimmy Butler to rest against Cleveland, Boban Marjanovic returns

Jimmy Butler will be taking a day off to rest Tuesday when the 76ers host the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Coach Brett Brown said Butler is not the only player who will be taking time off before the playoffs begin. Both Joel Embiid and JJ Redick can be expected to take off a day or two between now and the end of the season in the name of preservation.

“None of us should be surprised if these guys miss some games,” Brown said Tuesday following practice in Camden.

James Ennis is expected to start in place of Butler on Tuesday.

Butler left Sunday’s 106-89 win over Indiana with just over four minutes left to play, reportedly tinkering with his shoe. Brown inserted Ennis into the lineup for the remainder of the game.

“It was something going on with his foot,” Brown said of Butler after the game. “I don’t know what it was."

Following Monday’s practice, Brown said there was no injury to report and that it was just “discomfort.”

While the team will be without Butler on Tuesday, Boban Marjanovic, who has missed the last six games with a right knee sprain and bone bruise, returned to practice and will be available against the Cavaliers.

Marjanovic admitted he thought the worst when he went down in the fourth quarter of the Sixers’ Feb. 25 win over the New Orleans Pelicans, and was relieved to learn the injury was minor.

“I feel lucky because all these years, all my warming up, all my extra work and what I do before the games, before practice, after practice, it will pay off,” he said.

Brown noted that now with Embiid and Marjanovic back in the lineup, he can continue to tinker with rotations and trying to find a way to maximize rim protection as the team nears the postseason.

“With Boban coming back in, we can continue to try to explore ways to have him on the court and schematically change some things,” Brown said.

Ennis has received the bulk of backup wing minutes over Jonathon Simmons in the last week, and a start over Simmons in place of Butler would be notable.

Since the acquisition of the two players through trades, Brown has been evaluating them in what he’s called a “tournament.” The winner of the tournament will likely earn the majority of bench minutes and be a part of the nine-man rotation that Brown hopes to use for the playoffs.

Ennis said it’s been difficult getting into a rhythm not knowing when or how much playing time he would get, but with a more consistent role through the last three games he’s starting to find his way.

“When I first got here I wasn’t as comfortable, a new system and everything,” he said. “I feel a lot more comfortable now.”