Podcast: What Oladipo injury means for Heat’s outlook; good and bad from West Coast trip

The Miami Heat was finally finding some traction with Victor Oladipo and its new defense-first mentality when a reminder of just how fragile its playoff hopes are came in the waning minutes of a win against the Los Angeles Lakers on Thursday.

Oladipo rose for a dunk and grabbed at his right knee as he drifted back to the ground after hanging on the rim. A week later, there’s still no real clarity about what the injury is and how long it might keep the wing out.

This is the gamble the Heat made when it dealt for Oladipo at the trade deadline last month. The two-time All-Star has played just 56 games in the past two seasons after sustaining a quadriceps tendon rupture in his right knee, which caused him to sit out more than a year. Now Miami’s playoff hopes hinge on the joint, and the Heat Check podcast is here to examine what it all means for Miami.

David Wilson and Anthony Chiang, the Heat beat writer for the Miami Herald, first give their initial impressions of how Oladipo’s injury might affect the Heat’s long-term outlook, then look at the start of Miami’s West Coast trip and what it can teach us about how the Heat is adjusting.

Miami’s defensive identity is in limbo and the depth it sacrificed to land Oladipo is now missed, but it’s not all bad for the Heat. Miami began life after Oladipo with an impressive road win against the Portland Trail Blazers on Sunday for a sixth win in seven games.

It hasn’t all been good, though. The Heat followed its win in Portland with a blowout loss to the Phoenix Suns on Tuesday and a minor injury scare for star forward Jimmy Butler.

With one more game left on its swing through the Western Conference, Miami is providing lessons good and bad with fewer than 20 games left in the 2020-21 NBA season.