Miami Heat guard Victor suffers a patellar tendon tear and is out for the series vs. the Milwaukee Bucks

Tough break for Victor Oladipo.

The injury didn’t look good when guard Victor Oladipo crumpled to the floor during his drive to the basket late in the Miami Heat’s Game 3 win over the top-seeded Milwaukee Bucks. On Sunday, the Heat’s worst fears were confirmed as an MRI test revealed a torn patellar tendon in Oladipo’s left knee that would sideline him for the rest of the NBA Playoffs and even beyond.

Late-game injury

The injury occurred with 3:56 remaining in the Heat’s 121-99 win over the Bucks in Game 3 on Friday night. With Miami firmly in front, 112-88, Oladipo tried to drive past Bobby Portis Jr., but as he tried to gather for a layup attempt, his left knee buckled, and the former Indiana standout crumpled to the floor.

The Heat then made the unfortunate announcement regarding Oladipo’s injury on Sunday—an injury that would require surgery to repair. This would be Oladipo’s third major surgery in the last four years. The first two were done to fix a quadriceps injury over his right knee.

Oladipo’s absence means the Heat will miss another offensive threat following the broken hand that Tyler Herro suffered in Game 1 of this series. Without Herro, Oladipo returned to the rotation after playing in 42 regular season games and averaging 10.7 points, 3.0 rebounds, 3.0 assists, and 1.4 steals per game.

Oladipo’s overcome so much

Heat coach Erik Spoelstra was devastated by Oladipo’s injury. He added that he admires Oladipo’s resiliency through all these setbacks and looks forward to the guard bouncing back yet again from this latest injury.

“Yes, there are injuries. That is a part of this game. We understand that,” Spoelstra said. “But the human side of it, when you see somebody that’s overcome so much, and he’s done it time and time and time again, and he always does it with an incredible positive spirit and a smile on his face even last night … that’s why I admire him so much.”