Heat's Bam Adebayo Out vs. Wizards With Knee Injury
Miami Heat center Bam Adebayo will not play in his team's road game against the Washington Wizards on Friday evening because of a left knee contusion.
Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel relayed the news on Adebayo, who will miss the game alongside Jimmy Butler (right knee soreness) and Tyler Herro (left ankle sprain).
Other Heat players out include Dewayne Dedmon, Udonis Haslem, Victor Oladipo, Duncan Robinson and Ömer Yurtseven, per the NBA's injury report.
The 25-year-old Adebayo missed six weeks in December and January last season after undergoing surgery on his right thumb for a torn ulnar collateral ligament.
When healthy, he was excellent, averaging 19.1 points, 10.1 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game while shooting 55.7 percent from the field in 56 contests.
He's a key player for a team that yet again came into a season with title aspirations given the core group of Adebayo, Butler, Herro and Kyle Lowry.
Last year, the Heat reached the Eastern Conference Finals, in no small part because of their All-Star center. While Miami didn't make many splashy changes to that group—and while a number of teams in the Eastern Conference did have big summers—it was still expected to be one of the contenders in the conference.
The Heat, however, are 7-8. They have the talent to contend for the Eastern Conference crown, but for now, they must weather the storm without their top players.
With Adebayo and others out, the Heat rolled with a starting lineup of Kyle Lowry, Caleb Martin, Max Strus, Haywood Highsmith and Nikola Jovic versus Washington.
