Chicago Bulls All-Star Jimmy Butler out 3-4 weeks with knee injury

Chicago Bulls guard Jimmy Butler will miss 3-4 weeks with a strained knee and will not play in Sunday’s All-Star Game, the team said in a new release Tuesday.

It’s a significant loss for the beat-up Bulls, who have lost seven of their past 10 games, including three in a row, and have dropped from third place in the Eastern Conference to seventh place, just a game ahead of Detroit, in less than three weeks.

Butler sustained the injury in the second quarter of Friday’s loss to Denver when he drove to the rim and landed awkwardly on his leg.

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The Bulls already lost Joakim Noah to a season-ending shoulder injury and second-year forward Nikola Mirotic is currently recovering from an appendectomy. Point guard Derrick Rose sat out Monday's loss to the Hornets with general soreness and small forward Mike Dunleavy recently made his season debut coming back from offseason back surgery.

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Butler, the NBA’s 2014-15 Most Improved Player, is having another tremendous season, averaging a career-high 22.4 points, 5.2 rebound, 4.3 assists and 1.7 steals, and often guarding the opponent’s best perimeter player.

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver announced that Butler's teammate Pau Gasol would replace him in the All-Star Game.