Miami Heat‘s five-game road trip is not going well. After a drama-filled 113-94 loss to the Denver Nuggets in Colorado, the Heat fell 120-117 to the Los Angeles Lakers in overtime on Wednesday night.
Helping drive the Lakers to win was an absolutely dominating performance by Malik Monk, who apparently has some sort of grudge against the Heat. Not just last night, but every time he faces Miami, the 23-year-old guard puts up career-high stats.
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Sensing that Malik Monk has a personal vendetta against the Miami Heat for some reason.
“Malik Monk has 5 career games of 27+ points,” Heat reporter Couper Moorhead tweeted. “Three of them have come against the Heat.”
Malik Monk off the bench in the Lakers OT win vs the Heat 🔥
27 Points
10/13 Shooting
6 Rebounds
4 Threes
3 Assists
For perspective, Monk, who scored 27 points against Miami at the Staples Center on Wednesday, has thus far averaged this season 8.7 points per game.
After the game, the former No. 11 overall pick from the 2017 NBA Draft took to Instagram to celebrate his performance. “Some of yall counted me out🤧. Imma stay down though! #DGO #Lakeshow,” Monk captioned the series of photos, to which Heat All-Star Bam Adebayo had a one-emoji response: the middle finger.
😂🤣😂🤣 Bam commented on Malik Monks post after the Lakers win
After the exchange was posted on Twitter, the NSFW interaction went viral. It should be noted, Adebayo was no slouch against the Lakers. The center scored 28 points, with 10 rebounds, and six steals.
Monk & Adebayo Played at Kentucky Together
GettyMalik Monk #5 and Bam Adebayo #3 of the Kentucky Wildcats celebrate during the game against the Florida Gators at Rupp Arena on February 25, 2017 in Lexington, Kentucky.
While Adebayo clearly annoyed with Monk, the latter of whom has been dominant against the Heat even before he joined the Lakers, it’s safe to say their postgame exchange was all in good fun.
The two played together at Kentucky and both were drafted in the first round of the 2017 NBA Draft. While Monk was selected by the Hornets, Adebayo was drafted by the Heat with their No. 14 pick.
Last year, when Monk was still a member of the Hornets, WCNC reporter Nick Carboni highlighted their ongoing playful feud. “Malik Monk indicated that #Heat big man and former college teammate Bam Adebayo said something to him before both games that he went off against Miami.”
While their exchanges are all in good fun, it must be annoying for the Heat All-Star to have a former teammate always taking your lunch money. Miami Herald’s Barry Jackson tweeted, “Malik Monk now with 93 points in his last 114 minutes against the Heat.”
Heat Face the Los Angeles Clippers on Thursday Night
Got another late tipoff tonight, #HEATTwitter.
The Heat don’t have time to dwell on their frustrating overtime loss against the Lakers, as they play the second game of their back-to-back series in Los Angeles against the Clippers on Thursday night.
Butler has gone to the locker room…
In addition to blowing a nine-point lead against the Lakers, five-time All-Star Jimmy Butler exited the game after the first quarter due to a sprained right ankle.
However, the Clippers will also be short-handed on Thursday night. Miami Herald’s Anthony Chiang tweeted that they expect to have just nine available players to play against the Heat: Paul George, Reggie Jackson, Luke Kennard, Terance Mann, Ivica Zubac, Eric Bledsoe, Nicolas Batum, Isaiah Hartenstein, and Justise Winslow.
READ NEXT: Jimmy Butler Exits Game With Injury: Latest Update Heat Star’s Status
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Heat Star’s ‘F*** You’ Instagram Post to Lakers’ Malik Monk Goes Viral