Victor Oladipo will miss the remainder of Miami Heat's season, capping off a nightmare injury run.
The Miami Heat star sustained a patellar tendon tear in his left knee during Saturday night's NBA play-off win over the Milwaukee Bucks. The injury occurred as he drove to the basket and jumped for a potential layup, with his foot slipping and crumpling beneath him.
The 30-year-old fell to the floor and immediately clutched his knee. The injury means the shooting guard will miss the rest of the Play-Offs and ultimately the remainder of the season.
After victory in game three gave the Heat a 2-1 lead over the Eastern Conference top seeds, Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said: "It was a great win, but when you see a player go down like that and particularly a player like Vic, who has gone through so much in the last three years. I don't know what it is right now, so I don't want to jump the gun on anything. But that's definitely not a good feeling to see."
It marks another significant knee injury for Oladipo having ruptured his quad tendon in his right knee in January 2019, that required another surgical procedure two years ago. He did not return to action until March 7, 2022.
For the Heat, it's another concern to contend with, after Tyler Herro broke two fingers in game one of the Milwaukee series. He has since had surgery to repair the third and fourth metacarpal on his right hand and is set to be out for at least six weeks, which works out to be until at least the NBA Finals, should Miami reach that stage.
In further bad news for the Heat they are unable to replace either Herro or Oladipo on their play-off roster. This is due to an NBA rule which prevents them being able to make replacements unless their squad were to decrease to nine players or less.
The Heat’s star man Jimmy Butler also suffered an injury scare in the team’s 121-99 victory in Miami, and had to exit the game for treatment after coming down hard following a shot attempt under the rim. Butler returned to the bench but played no further part in the game, and it has since been confirmed the small forward sustained a bruised glute.
The 33-year-old led the game with 30 points as the Heat moved to within two wins of what would be a shock first round win over a Bucks team that were without Giannis Antetokounmpo for the second straight game due to a back contusion suffered in the opening game of the series.
His status for Game Four - which takes place in South Florida - is still unclear, but he began individual work on the court in Miami on Sunday. "We'll continue to monitor him," coach Mike Budenholzer said after a team film session today. "We'll see how he feels from the session today and see how he wakes up tomorrow."
