It appears the Heat won’t have Bam Adebayo or Goran Dragic for Game 3 of the NBA Finals, tweets Shams Charania of The Athletic. Sources tell Charania that both players are listed as doubtful for Sunday night’s contest.
Adebayo is dealing with a shoulder strain that he suffered in Game 1, along with a neck strain that was discovered in an MRI. He had been stellar before the injury, averaging 17.8 points and 10.9 rebounds in Miami’s first 16 playoff games.
Dragic is suffering from a torn left plantar fascia, which also happened in Game 1. Although the injury sometimes causes players to sit out for several weeks, there was hope that Dragic would be able to play Friday and he wasn’t officially scratched until a few hours before game time. Like Adebayo, Dragic has turned in an outstanding postseason, averaging 19.9 points, 4.0 rebounds and 4.6 assists in 16 games.
Both players are working to get back on the court, but Adebayo is considered closer to returning than Dragic, according to Tim Reynolds of the Associated Press (Twitter link).
Miami lost by 10 points in Game 2 without Adebayo and Dragic and faces an uphill climb to get back into the series even if both players eventually return.
Maybe this series goes to six games if Bam and Dragic don’t get hurt, but now it’ll be surprising if it isn’t a sweep.
The Heat never had a chance, regardless. Th East is just weak. That’s why the Heat has looked decent.
Another blowout
Looks like the lakers are backing into a championship with the Heat with out 2 of their 3 best players.
Looks like more tone deaf Warrior fan derangement. 2015 Love and Kyrie were far better than Dragic and Bam. Enjoy watching Lebron pass Curry for good with his 4th ring.
Nope look like you admit that Lakers got very lucky facing a injured team. LeBron will never be better than the GOAT Jordan.
Im not deranged and don’t obsess with Lebron v Jordan. Imagine being so tone deaf to say someones team won a title vs an injured team when you root for the Warriors who got the biggest break in the world for 2015.
Exactly like what happened last year with Toronto.
And yet the Lakers barely broke a sweat beating a healthy Rockets team in five games.
“Backing into a title” is a narrative from fans of loser teams that can’t win. A ring is a ring. I forgot the standards set by the Rockets GM who gets excited for only being 9 games under .500 vs the Warriors in the playoffs.
Also the Raptors were able to beat Golden State with both Curry and Thompson in the lineup, something the Rockets couldn’t do.
Thompson was out vs the Raptors.
He missed 1.5 of the six games and the Raptors were the better team even when he was in the lineup. Obviously if Durant was healthy the Raptors probably would have lost, but who knows.
Rondo and Howard cheep shot artists go after them hard fouls early game 3 even playing field eye for an eye tooth for a tooth. Take care or business bring back pat Riley Oakley Ewing morning Shaq toughness. Doors iiiit.
FYI heat cant stand rondo anyway wheather he is uk alum bad blood with many in nba he is a pos
I’ll take that as an endorsement
Boo hoo hoo.
At least LeBron will finally get his 4th ring before the Lakers’ window closes in 2021.
Window is just getting started bro. Cap space to add no one is beating this team as it currently stands. Rockets window closed after cp3 hammy blew goodluck accepting this over the next several years on the back end of hardens career
Houston should consider blowing it up. they cannot win as constructed.
Why is it closing? They have enough cap room for a 3rd star. You really are the type of person to think the Rockers are better off despire never reaching a finals with Harden.
supet disappointed. Heat had a chance. Howard stirring shit up and his shot on Bam, another example
No Bam, no chance for the Heat, unfortunately. Dragic’s contribution was replaceable in game 2, but not Adebayo’s.
I love it how the LAL is one of the worst shooting teams in the league & they win, hopefully this will break the trend!
Also hopefully with them bullying with size all their opponents might well foreshadow the end of small ball, going back to real hoops, where you need size to dominate, that takes talent, playing a bunch of shorties just chugging down as many treys as they can doesn’t require any talent at all!
Being seven feet tall requires skill, yet shooting consistently does not? I understand what you’re saying, but a healthy basketball team uses spacing to their advantage, with a mix of players that can do both. I don’t see why it needs to be one or the other
Being seven feet tall doesn’t require skill… but moving with that height like AD, KAT, Embiid, DMC… that is unbelievably skilled, or dominating like Jokic… That is pure & unadulterated talent!
At NBA level most small guys can shoot to some degree, right?
Yes, but some shoot better than others. That’s why Curry and Thompson dominated the league for a three year stretch.
Why did the Heat make it over the Bucks? They had perimeter defense to lock up Middleton and Bam to wrap up Giannis. They could feed Bam and Olynyk in the paint OR kick it outside to Herro/Robinson/Dragic.
The 76ers were totally screwed despite having one of the best centers in Embiid. Minnesota was not much better off with just Towns. Likewise, the Wizards could rain threes yet lacked consistency on defense. The Clippers largely failed due to their lack of size.
I just don’t believe size is the most critical factor in basketball. A potent team relies on a balance of reliable shooting, capable defense, and some dominance in the paint as well. Too much of one component will only exacerbate other weaknesses