It’s been a nightmare start to the NBA Finals for the Miami Heat. After starting the opening quarter of Game 1 with a 13-point lead, the Lakers staged a furious comeback behind 11 first-half three-pointers and have led by as many as 30 in this one as they look to take a 1-0 series advantage.
Along the way, Jimmy Butler rolled his left ankle — although he continued to play — while Goran Dragic left the game in the second quarter with a foot injury and was listed by the team as doubtful to return on Wednesday night. But the injury woes didn’t end there.
Midway through the third period, Bam Adebayo also left the game with a left arm injury — it’s unclear if it was his shoulder or an aggravation of his wrist injury from the conference finals.
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Adebayo had been struggling up to that point, scoring just eight points on 2-of-8 shooting for the night, to go along with four rebounds, playing limited first half minutes after picking up two early fouls. Adebayo was set to be one of the Lakers’ biggest obstacles going into this Finals series, as Los Angeles even opted to start Dwight Howard at center to help counter him. Hopefully, Adebayo and the rest of the Heat players’ injuries aren’t series enough to prevent them from returning for the remainder of the series.
UPDATE: Adebayo’s initial X-rays returned negative, which is a good sign but further testing will be needed to determine his status going forward.
Bam Adebayo’s shoulder the X-rays were negative, the team says.
— Malika Andrews (@malika_andrews) October 1, 2020