Jamal CollierESPN12:35 AM ET2 Minute Read
MIAMI — Despite a 121-99 win over the Milwaukee Bucks in Game 3 on Saturday night, mood was subdued in the Miami Heat’s post-game locker room as the team awaited test results from a knee injury to guard Victor Oladipo.
Oladipo was sent off in the fourth quarter of the Eastern Conference first-round series game after falling down after a drive in the basket. Oladipo shouted an expletive and immediately after the incident began pinning his left knee to the ground.
A stretcher was brought down to help him into the locker room, but Oladipo waved him off. He is scheduled to undergo further tests on Sunday morning.
“It was a great win but when you see a player go down like that and especially a player like Vic who’s been through so much over the last three years – I don’t know what it is at the moment so I want to.” not jumping on anything,” said Heat coach Erik Spoelstra. “But it’s definitely not a good feeling to see that.”
Oladipo, who turns 31 next month, has already suffered a serious knee injury in his career – a torn quad tendon in his right knee in January 2019, which required a second surgery in May 2021. He only played in his first game on March 7, 2022, after this injury.
“We just have to see,” said Spoelstra. “I’m about to throw up but I don’t know what the prognosis is. I want to stay positive and we’ll just see what happens.”
The Heat, who led the series 2-1, also announced that forward Jimmy Butler has a bruised buttock.
Butler scored 30 points on 12-of-19 shooting in 28 minutes on Saturday before falling heavily to the ground in the third quarter. He checked out the game with 3 minutes and 29 seconds remaining in the third quarter to go to the dressing room and returned to the bench with a heat pack and ice around his body.
Spoelstra said Butler could have returned to the game, but with Miami comfortably ahead in the fourth quarter, the result never dictated it.
“He went back to the dressing room and said, ‘Hey, just give me a few minutes, I’m ready to go,'” Spoelstra said. “I wanted to put him back in the game if he broke 15, but the second session all night gave us a huge boost.”