Miami Heat: Will They Go Into Game 2 Without Two of Their Key Players?

Miami Heat having a tough time in Game 1 of the NBA Finals series is an understatement. Not only were they steamrollered by the Los Angeles Lakers, 116-98, but they also had three of their key players suffering injuries.

Goran Dragic, Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo all suffered injuries, and only Butler had stayed on until the end of the ballgame.

Of the three, Dragic's injury appears to be the worst as he suffered a plantar tear on his left foot.

Dragic seemed to have incurred the injury while driving against Rajon Rondo during the second quarter, but he continued playing until the halftime.

The Miami Heat guard would have played on but was asked to return to the locker room at the end of the halftime break while he was on his way back to the court for the third quarter. From there, he did not return to the game and was later seen leaving the arena but was not wearing a walking boot.

Miami Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra said that he has no information yet on the condition of Dragic's foot. There is also no information, however, on how long he will be out.

Adebayo was the next to leave the game. With just six minutes left in the third quarter, Adebayo left while clutching his shoulder. The X-rays, though, were negative, which is a good sign.

Spoelstra said that he does not know if Adebayo's injury was a new one or a previous one that he aggravated during Game 1.

In Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Finals series that pitted Miami Heat against the Boston Celtics, Adebayo injured his shoulder when he got tangled with Jayson Tatum, the Celtics guard.

However, Adebayo had said that he was good and even continued to play until Game 6 wherein he scored a career-high 32 points and 14 rebounds.

At that time, Spoelstra had said that Adebayo's injury was not just the shoulder, that it was a little bit of everything including his arm and wrist.

Butler, for his part, seemed to have the least of injuries as he had played on despite hobbling a bit.

The Miami Heat All-Star player's injury happened during the second quarter when he was trying to score over Lakers big man Anthony Davis. He twisted his ankle while landing awkwardly.

He said that he does not feel that he needed to deliver a message to his team despite losing two of their teammates to injuries.

Butler said that they had not played the way they should have played in Game 1.

This was echoed by Spoelstra who said that the Miami Heat was better than how they played in Game 1 against the Lakers.

Kendrick Nunn stepped in to fill for Dragic, and despite never having played in the bubble yet, he finished with 18 points in just 20 minutes.

The Miami Heat as a no-nonsense team will not make excuses if ever both Dragic and Adebayo will not be able to return to the NBA Finals series.

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