All season long, the Miami Heat have had to deal with injuries to their roster, yet they have still found ways to win games and be one of the more elite teams on both ends of the floor in the NBA.
Currently, 44-22, the Heat hold the top-seed in the Eastern Conference right now and have a very good shot at locking up home-court advantage through the Eastern Conference playoffs.
Winning games without star players is a tough thing to do, yet the Miami Heat have done just that this season. Without Jimmy Butler, the Heat are 13-7, without Bam Adebayo, the Heat are 17-8 and without Kyle Lowry, the Heat are 11-6 on the season.
Being one of the most balanced two-way teams in the league, as well as having a plethora of talented players on their bench, the Heat really does seem like one of the “teams to beat” this year and they got a massive boost to their rotation on Monday night against the Rockets with the return of Victor Oladipo.
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Traded to the Miami Heat at the trade deadline last season, Victor Oladipo played just four games with Miami before suffering a right quad injury that ended his season and required surgery. Back in 2019, Oladipo had injured the same quadriceps tendon, resulting in him playing just 36 games during the 2018-19 season and then only 19 games during the 2019-20 season.
Knowing that he faced a long and grueling return to the basketball court this past offseason after undergoing surgery, Victor Oladipo re-signed with the Heat on a one-year minimum contract.
Finally getting back out on the court, Victor Oladipo was on a hard minutes restriction, but he looked confident and most importantly, he was able to make an impact on the floor. Oladipo finished the game playing just 15 minutes and he scored 11 points on 4-7 shooting from the floor.
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Now, with Butler, Lowry, Adebayo, Herro, and Oladipo all healthy, along with the Heat’s bench being nearly fully-healthy, the Miami Heat are well on their way to claiming the 1-seed in the Eastern Conference.
The return of Victor Oladipo means a lot for this organization and his impact will be felt the rest of the season.
