Bam, Dragic possibly could still play in series
Five takeaways from the Hat’s 124-114 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers on Friday in Game 2 of the NBA Finals at Disney’s Wide World of Sports Complex:
The Heat played Game 2 without starters Bam Adebayo and Goran Dragic, but the team and both players are still holding out hope they can return before the end of the series.
Adebayo (neck strain) and Dragic (torn plantar fascia in left foot) did not play Friday. Both players were listed as doubtful on the injury report, but were ruled out a few hours before the start of Game 2.
“I had to play the role of not just head coach, but almost of a parent the last 24 hours,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “These two guys are really amazing.
Like everybody in our locker room, there’s a real special sense of brotherhood and responsibility. They were both lobbying to play and we ultimately had to take the decision out of their hands for tonight.”
Dragic has been able to put pressure on his left foot, and he has been working closely with Heat therapists and trainers in an effort to work his way back to the court before the end of the Finals, according to a league source. Game 3 is Sunday at 7:30 p.m. on ABC.
“They are warriors and are continuing to try to lobby, but they just need rest, recovery, and treatment and that’s the only course of action right now,” Spoelstra said when asked about Adebayo and Dragic’s status for the rest of the series.
Adebayo, 23, and Dragic, 34, were both injured during
Wednesday’s Game 1 loss to the Lakers. Adebayo left the game in the third quarter after Dragic did not play in the second half.
Adebayo’s left shoulder bothered him during the Eastern Conference finals. But Spoelstra said Thursday that the neck strain is a “different injury.”
Adebayo has been one of the Heat’s best players in the playoffs, averaging 17.8 points on 55.7 percent shooting, 10.9 rebounds, 4.6 assists and 1.1 steals. Friday marked just the second game Adebayo has missed since the start of his second NBA season.
Dragic, who will be an unrestricted free agent this offseason, has been one of the Heat’s most reliable and efficient offensive options this postseason. He entered the Finals averaging a teamhigh 20.9 points on 45.2 percent shooting, to go with 4.2 rebounds and 4.7 assists during the playoff run.
Adebayo and Dragic are tied with a team-best plus/ minus of plus-77 this postseason. In the eight minutes Jimmy Butler, Adebayo and Dragic played together in Game 1 of the Finals, the Heat outscored the Lakers 29-12.
Without Adebayo and Dragic, the Heat turned to a starting lineup that had played just two minutes together this season.
After using the same starting lineup of Dragic, Duncan Robinson, Butler, Jae Crowder and Adebayo in the first 16 games of the playoffs, Miami started center Meyers Leonard in Adebayo’s place and rookie guard Tyler Herro in Dragic’s place in Game 2 of the Finals.
While those replacements made sense, the result was a starting lineup that had barely played together. The
Herro-Robinson-ButlerCrowder-Leonard combination was not used in the regular season and played just two minutes together in the playoffs (all of them coming in Game 3 of the Heat’s second-round series against the Milwaukee Bucks).
In its first extended playing time together of the season, the Herro-RobinsonButler-Crowder-Leonard lineup posted a plus/minus of minus-8 in nine minutes together Friday.
Herro, who became the youngest player in NBA history to start a Finals game at 20 years old and 256 days, finished with 17 points, seven rebounds and three assists in 43 minutes in his first start of the playoffs and ninth start of the season.
Leonard, who fell out of the Heat’s rotation after starting the first 49 games of the season before the league’s COVID-19 shutdown, finished with seven points and one assist in nine minutes. He had logged just nine minutes of playing time this postseason before Friday.
The absences of Adebayo and Dragic also impacted the bench rotation, which included (in order of when they entered the game)
Kelly Olynyk, Kendrick Nunn, Andre Iguodala, Derrick Jones Jr. and Solomon Hill.
Olynyk was effective with 24 points on 9-of-16 shooting and nine rebounds. Nunn contributed 13 points, four rebounds and three assists.
Butler had to take on even more responsibility on both ends of the court.
The Heat’s All-Star wing finished Game 2 with 25 points, eight rebounds and a playoff career-high 13 assists. Butler played 45 of the 48 minutes.
Butler also guarded Lakers superstar LeBron James on most possessions the Heat used its man-to-man defense.
This wasn’t surprising, considering Miami was without two of its best players in Adebayo and Dragic. Adebayo has averaged team-highs in rebounds and assists this postseason, and Dragic has averaged the second-most points on the team during the playoffs.
Without Adebayo and Dragic, almost all of the Heat’s offense ran through Butler on Friday.
Butler entered Game 2 of the Finals averaging 20.8 points on 46.7 percent shooting, 5.5 rebounds, 4.6 assists and 1.9 steals in 36.4 minutes during the playoffs.
The Heat scored 114 points on an efficient 50.7 percent shooting from the field and 11-of-27 shooting on threes, and also finished 31 of 34 from the foul line.
The Heat’s defense was the problem. As expected, Miami’s defense struggled without Adebayo.
The Lakers scored 124 points on 50.5 percent shooting from the field. Miami used its 2-3 zone scheme for most of the night after using it for only three possessions in Game 1.
Los Angeles absolutely dominated around the basket, scoring 56 paint points. The Lakers shot 16 of 47 from three-point range, but finished 33 of 50 (66 percent) on two-point shots.
Without Adebayo to protect the paint and anchor the defense, Lakers All-Star big man Anthony Davis dominated with 32 points on 15-of-20 shooting and 14 rebounds.
James finished with 33 points, nine rebounds and nine assists.
The Lakers also scored 21 second-chance points on 16 offensive rebounds.
Miami has historically not fared well when falling behind 2-0 in a playoff series.
The Heat holds a 1-7 all-time record in playoff series that it has lost the first two games in. The only time Miami rebounded from a 2-0 hole to win a playoff series was in the 2006 Finals, when the Heat responded with four consecutive wins over the Dallas Mavericks.
In order to complete the comeback, Miami would need to defeat Los Angeles four times in five games. Meanwhile, the Lakers have not dropped two consecutive games yet this postseason.
When taking a 2-0 lead, James’ team is 23-0 in those playoff series during his NBA career. And 19 of those 23 series ended in either four or five games.