The mood around the Miami Heat’s facility should have been celebratory. Instead, there was a somber feeling within the Heat’s space at Kaseya Center the day after Saturday night’s big Game 3 win over the Milwaukee Bucks.
That’s because an MRI on Sunday revealed that Heat guard Victor Oladipo suffered a season-ending torn patellar tendon in his left knee that will require him to undergo a third major knee surgery in just over four years. The Heat only said that Oladipo will miss the rest of the playoffs, but a recovery timetable is expected to become clearer after he undergoes surgery.
“This forum of sports, you feel so many different emotions and I think that was encapsulated in one night,” coach Erik Spoelstra said as the team gathered to watch film Sunday in the wake of Saturday night’s 121-99 home win over the top-seeded Bucks that gave the eighth-seeded Heat a 2-1 lead in the best-of-7 first-round playoff series. “We felt so good about the effort that we put forth to be able to win the game. The game was at hand and then to have a moment like that when it just swings and goes 180 degrees the other direction.”
