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Miami Heat of America star, Bam Adebayo is now rated ‘questionable’ but still in doubt to make a spirited return to action in USA’s National Basketball Association (NBA) league against Toronto Raptors.
Megasportsarena.com gathered that this is sequel to reports out of his team’s camp heading into the game in Toronto that Adebayo remains under close examination, after receiving surgery on his thumb last month.
It means he is unlikely to be there this week in the clash with the Canada-based former champions that have Nigerian ex-international, Masai Ujiri as their president.
This is in contrast with initial reports that Adebayo could make his return in Toronto, but Kyle Lowry is out due to personal reasons and D’Tigers of Nigeria ace, Gabe Vincent may go from a DNP.
The report out of God’s Own Country added that another D’Tigers’ player, Precious Achiuwa also gets a mention in the build-up to Monday’s game in Toronto, but his is majorly from the transfers point of view.
Achiuwa is one of two players The Heat dealt to The Raptors to acquire Lowry through a sign-and-trade, along with Goran Dragic, who remains away from Toronto because of a personal matter, but the Nigerian lad is expected to play against Miami on Monday.
Lowry, who spoke earlier this earlier this season about how emotional he expects his first game back in Toronto to be for him, will have another opportunity to play against his former team soon with Miami again hosting The Raptors on January 29, after which The Heat then face them away on February 1 and April 3.
With The Raptors currently not playing in front of fans for their home games because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Lowry’s absence means the focus will be on Adebayo’s potential return after missing seven weeks of game action.
The 24-year-old Adebayo averaged 18.7 points, 10.2 rebounds and 3.2 assists in 18 games this season before injuring his thumb during a November 29 loss to Denver Nuggets.
Somehow The Heat managed to overcome his absence to post an impressive 14-8 record while Adebayo has been out, as rookie Omer Yurtseven and veteran Dewayne Dedmon have provided quality minutes at center.
Along with Lowry, The Heat ruled have also out Markieff Morris (return to competition reconditioning), KZ Okpala (wrist sprain), Chris Silva (ineligible to play) and another Nigerian-born star, Victor Oladipo (knee injury recovery) for Monday’s game against The Raptors.
Lowry has been ruled out of what would have been his first game against his former team since he left The Raptors to sign with The Heat as a free agent last offseason, but the 35-year-old star will miss the game because of personal reasons.
On the other hand, Adebayo was upgraded from doubtful to questionable for Monday’s game at FTX Arena (7:30 p.m.) and the Nigerian-born USA international could return after missing the last 22 games following surgery on a torn ulnar collateral ligament in his right thumb in December.
Heat coach Erik Spoelstra raised hope about Adebayo’s impending return, following The Heat’s 109-98 home loss to The Philadelphia 76ers on Saturday night, as the gaffer stated: “You know how much he cares and puts into this.
“Whenever that day is when he comes back, the night before I’m sure he won’t sleep. A few of our guys have been put in that position, where they’ve been out for whatever injury or protocol or whatever and it makes you appreciate all this even more.”
Heat wing, Caleb Martin added about Adebayo’s likely return: “I was just talking to him on the bench about that.
“Just how awesome of a day it’s going to be just to have him back and how lit the arena is going to be to see him back.
“We were just talking about it. You can tell he’s itching bad. … Obviously, we’re all ready for Bam to come back.”
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