It was an exciting night Thursday for the Miami Heat as they beat the Toronto Raptors to mark their fourth straight win, but it was the performance of Bam Adebayo that was historic. The Heat’s captain has been a key foundation piece for the team, and Thursday solidified as he, after recording another double-double, tied Alonzo Mourning for the second most in franchise history as his playmaking garnered a response from Erik Spoelstra.
When asked about the versatility of Adebayo, Spoelstra would have a humorous response, saying after Saturday’s practice that the goal for the center is to block out “all the couch coaches,” according to Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald.
“We have to quiet all the narratives out there and all the noise and all the couch coaches saying how Bam needs to play,” Spoelstra said. “We know what winning basketball is for him on both ends of the court.”
Heat’s Bam Adebayo shares reaction to tying Alonzo Mourning
In the victory over Toronto, Adebayo would score 21 points while collecting 16 rebounds to even go along with six assists, as it marked another game close to a triple-double. When hearing about the aforementioned record in tying Mourning, Adebayo would credit the work he’s put in and the team for believing in him.
“It’s just the dedication to the craft, and then obviously I love what I do and being able to be in situations where you can be top three or No. 1 in most of the categories in franchise history,” Adebayo said. “That just speaks to the type of player that I am and this organization giving me the opportunity.”
It had been a cold start for Adebayo this Heat season, but he has turned around his efficiency in this current four-game winning streak, averaging 19 points, close to 13 rebounds, and 6.5 assists per game while shooting 57 percent from the field.
Heat’s Erik Spoelstra believes people pay too much attention to scoring
Before, it had been career-low marks in terms of statistics like field goal percentage, but Spoelstra has always praised Adebayo’s style of winning basketball, even if people pay too much attention to scoring.
“But Bam has been playing winning basketball and whatever how many games this is, five, six games where he’s had close to a triple-double every single game,” Spoelstra said last Saturday. “Again, it’s a shame that everybody will only notice if he’s scoring. We don’t want him thinking like that. It’ll all come together as long as we’re winning, but he can impact in so many different ways. And you know, his leadership in that third quarter is what I saw.”
“Every side out of bounds that they were running, he was the one organizing everybody,” Spoelstra continued. “I tried to get our team organized into a zone, I messed that up, I called it too late, and he’s yelling at me. I love it, you know, I want him taking control of the defense. He is our voice, and every coverage he was communicating, every huddle, he was making sure everybody understood what we were doing and what adjustments we were making. When he’s like that, you know, he’s a special kind of leader.”
Miami is currently 13-10, which puts them fifth in the Eastern Conference as they look for five straight wins against the Detroit Pistons on Monday.
