The Miami Heat received more bad news ahead of Game 2 of the 2020 NBA Finals against the Los Angeles Lakers on Friday night. First-time All-Star Bam Adebayo has officially been ruled out for the second game, per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
Miami Heat All-Star Bam Adebayo (shoulder) will miss Game 2 of the NBA Finals vs. Lakers tonight, but there remains hope that he could return for Game 3 on Sunday, sources tell ESPN. The Heat have listed him as doubtful for tonight.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) October 2, 2020
The Heat’s star big man had been dealing with a nagging wrist injury to his left hand since the Eastern Conference Finals against the Boston Celtics in Game 5. The injury didn’t seem serious initially, seeing as how he was able to play through the pain in Game 6 while performing at a star level.
It seems that the injury bug has doubled up on the center now however. He was recently listed as doubtful leading up to the decision to sit him with the shoulder injury. Adebayo didn’t perform necessarily well before exiting Game 1 of the NBA Finals after aggravating the shoulder. He finished with eight points on 2-for-8 shooting from the field. He was also only limited to four boards.
Seven-time All-Star Anthony Davis and former Defensive Player of the Year center Dwight Howard proved to be quite the task for Adebayo, giving him possibly his first real challenge of the entire playoffs in just the opening minutes of Game 1.
With Adebayo out, the Heat will be severely depleted in the frontcourt. Davis and co-star LeBron James will have their way in terms of getting into the paint and having much success.
The Heat will have much to figure out in terms of game planning ahead of Game 2, with guard Goran Dragic being unlikely to play with a plantar tear that he suffered in Game 1 as well.
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