After the Miami Heat lost to the Detroit Pistons heartbreakingly, they came back and had a strong 124-111 win against the Indiana Pacers, also getting their first victory in the NBA Cup. As Heat star Jimmy Butler missed his third straight game, it was center Bam Adebayo who put up an incredible game which garnered the reaction of head coach Erik Spoelstra.
Against the Pacers, Adebayo would finish the game with 30 points on 10 for 17 shooting to go along with 11 rebounds, seven assists, and a whopping five steals. It had been a slow start for Adebayo this season where the usage had been slow and the shots off, but Spoelstra would say he was “thrilled” with the outing showed from the big man Friday night, according to Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald.
“He got going there, got some free throws, and was able to knock down some threes,” Spoelstra said. “We were all really thrilled for him because he did it the right way. You just focus on making those winning plays and the ball finds karma.”
“He was making the right play,” Spoelstra continued. “He could have easily had a triple-double tonight and he was getting other guys open looks with his screening, he was rolling hard to the rim, he was running, he was creating a lot of action just off the glass and taking it and going.”
Heat’s Bam Adebayo gets candid on the recent struggles
Spoelstra would emphasize Adebayo’s second half, where after only scoring three points in the first, he would come around in a big way and put up 27 in the last 24 minutes of the game. This would include Adebayo going two for three from beyond the arch, which the two were made back-to-back in a crucial part of the game as Miami looks to build up point differential since it is important for NBA Cup tiebreakers.
Adebayo is seen as the cornerstone of the Heat to some, such as Dwyane Wade, as he carries the culture and legacy of the team like others in the past. With all the pressure, especially being the captain for the second straight season, it had been a disappointing start to the season, which Adebayo revealed weighed on him.
“It really weighs on you when you lose games like that, especially the way we lost,” Adebayo said. “I know it weighed on us, but I know it definitely weighed on our coach a lot. But after that, we had a great day of practice and had a great shootaround today and brought that energy into the game.”
Before Friday night, Adebayo had been averaging 15.3 points per game as he was 40.7 percent shooting from the field and 21.7 percent from three-point range, which was an aspect going into the season many people were excited to see develop. He even had the worst true shooting percentage in the league among the 68 players with at least 140 field-goal attempts, which the statistic also contemplates the value of deep shots and attempts at the charity stripe.
Heat’s Bam Adebayo looked comfortable in Friday’s win over Indiana
After the dominant showcase, Adebayo would have a sense of relief after the game when talking about how long a season can be and what preparation can do to get someone like himself out of a slump.
“It’s a long season,” Adebayo said via The Miami Herald. ”But just staying with the preparation, staying with the work behind the scenes, not getting down on myself. Like I said before, it’s one of those things where it’s unnatural to see me shoot under 50 percent every night. So I just keep my same mentality. My teammates are behind me, my coaches are behind me, they know I’m going to make plays and tonight I did that.”
Adebayo’s performance was even historic as he became the first player in franchise history to finish with at least 30 points, 11 rebounds, seven assists, and five steals. In fact, he’s the only player that has done that in a game this season in the entire NBA, but there is no doubt that Adebayo looked comfortable, whereas in other games, the offense looked forced.
“We were able to kind of settle the game, which is what great players can help you do, by going into the post and playing him at the elbow and those kinds of things that just kind of settled us,” Spoelstra said. “Then once he got going there, got some free throws, he was able to knock down some threes. We were all really thrilled for him because he did it the right way. You just focus on making those winning plays and the ball finds karma.”
Heat’s Erik Spoelstra on Bam Adebayo having good “karma”
Spoelstra had spoken about the term “karma” before with Nikola Jovic and used it again when speaking about Adebayo, as despite the early struggles, he still was putting the elite work behind the scenes to get to an excellent point. The head coach would even say that younger players can learn from a role model like the University of Kentucky product.
“This is a lesson to all young guys,” Spoelstra said. “You want to change the energy of the ball going in, you focus on all the other things and he was tremendous just in terms of winning basketball, imposing his will the last two games. It resulted in one win. But wow, was he a force of nature in both the Detroit game and the Minnesota game, just really focusing on defending, rebounding, creating triggers for us, rolling hard, offensive rebounding.”
“And then the karma eventually changes,” Spoelstra continued. “Does it change exactly when you want it to change? Not necessarily in this league. But that’s what makes him so unique as a winning player. He focused on those things, he focused on leading, his voice was great in these three games. And then the ball would just find him [against the Pacers].”
The Heat’s focus is to “stack as many good days” after Pistons blunder
This type of usage from the center was needed, especially after the Heat star in Butler has been out as Adebayo and Tyler Herro look to take most 0f the offense. Still, the goal for Adebayo is simple, and it’s to keep up the same level of intensity as he had Friday and take that into future games.
“It’s always going to be an uphill battle during the season,” Adebayo said. “It’s a long season. Games every other day, sometimes back-to-backs. The mindset is trying to bring that same energy, that same type of execution to the next game.”
A win like this was needed, especially after the Heat coach made a mental error that cost them the game against the Pistons in the NBA Cup opener. As Spoelstra reflected on the blunder, the point of action now is to “stack” the great aspects and take it into their next game on Sunday.
“You just try to stack as many good days, build your habits, build the process, and we had a very good 24 hours,” Spoelstra said. “It led to a win, and now we have to go back to our caves, rest up, and get ready for another great game on Sunday.”
While they beat the Pacers, they will face them once again at the Gainbridge FieldHouse Sunday night, which ends the long six-game road trip, which they are 2-3, before they come back home Monday.
