The start of the NBA Finals went about as poorly as possible for the Miami Heat. The Los Angeles Lakers pretty much handled them all game and when the Heat were down by a lot of points, they lost starting guard Goran Dragic. To make things worse, All-Star big man Bam Adebayo. His injury isn’t as bad as Dragic’s but he will be out for Game 2 of the Finals, according to 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.
The good news is that it sounds like there’s a possibility he’ll be able to come back for Game 3. However, falling into a 2-0 whole against LeBron James and Anthony Davis could be very bad. The injuries are piling up for Miami but they still have their best player.
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Jimmy Butler Believes Heat Need to Play Perfect
Jimmy Butler is a little banged up but he’ll be able to play through his injury. He knows how hard it’s going to be to beat this Lakers team but still thinks it can happen.
“You’re talking about adversity,” Butler said. “For us, we thrive in that. If you look at it, everybody thought they were going to do that to us anyway. They probably think they’re going to do it to us three more times in a row. I beg to differ. Nobody picked us to be here. We embrace it. We love it. We know that we can win; we do. But we know we’ve got to play perfect, man. So, coming into Game 2, all the adversity, backs against the wall, yadda, yadda, yadda, we’re gonna win.”
Even before the injuries started to pile up, the Lakers looked like the superior team. It’s hard to imagine the series being too competitive if both Dragic and Adebayo miss more than one game.
Butler Still Thinks Heat Can Win
Butler is the ultimate competitor and this is his first time in the Finals. As the Heat’s best player, he’s not about to lay down and submit to defeat. He still thinks his team can be champions.
“They say when it’s bad – when it rains, it pours,” Butler said. “All in all, we’re still expected to win. We got here for a reason. We realize we belong. But we also realize how well we have to play on both ends of the floor to give ourselves a chance to win. I’ve always said ‘next man up’ when a man goes down, and right now we’re definitely going to have to do that. But I think it’s tough to lose. Your mind is moving at 1,000 miles per hour, obviously you’re not sleeping. But it’s just because we all care. We all want to win. We all want to be champions.”
The bubble has been anything but predictable but the Lakers are a different beast. They’ve stayed very focused all year and have a clear goal of winning a title. They aren’t about to overlook the Heat because of injuries. Butler is good enough to get Miami at least one win but it remains to be seen if he can do enough to beat the best duo in the NBA.
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