NBA carnage as another superstar goes down in potential killer ...

Another day, another NBA superstar has potentially gone down with a serious injury that could put his playoff hopes in jeopardy.

This time it was Jimmy Butler who is feared to have suffered an MCL injury in his knee in Miami’s 105-104 loss to the Philadelphia 76ers on Thursday.

Miami, who emerged from the play-in to reach the NBA Finals last year, can still make the playoffs despite the defeat.

They now play a must-win game against the winner of Thursday’s later play-in clash between the Chicago Bulls and Atlanta Hawks, with the winner booking a first-round meeting with the top-seeded Boston Celtics.

But they may be without Butler, who was rocked by a collision with Kelly Oubre Jr. under the basket late in the first quarter.

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Butler stayed in the game and finished with 19 points and five steals but was limping noticeably by the end of the contest.

It comes after New Orleans forward Zion Williamson was ruled out of Saturday’s must-win NBA play-in game against the Sacramento Kings with a left hamstring strain.

The Pelicans said an MRI exam on Thursday confirmed the injury, and Williamson will be reevaluated in about two weeks.

Williamson had 40 points and 11 rebounds before exiting with the game tied with 3:13 to play in Tuesday’s play-in loss to the Los Angeles Lakers.

His driving basket had just knotted the score at 95-95 when he grimaced in pain and headed for the sideline, only to depart for the locker room shortly thereafter.

Williamson, the top pick in the 2019 draft whose career has been hampered by a string of injuries, was playing in the first post-season game of his career.

Although the Pelicans reached the first round of the playoffs in 2022, he missed all of the 2021-2022 campaign recovering from a broken foot.

He also missed the team’s play-in game last season.

The winner of Saturday’s game will advance as the eighth seed in the Western Conference and take on conference winners Oklahoma City in the first round of the playoffs.

The Pelicans won all five of their games against the Kings in the regular season, with Williamson playing in four of those contests.