During the Miami Heat's 60-point monstrous win over the Portland Trail Blazers Friday night, 142-82, star Bam Adebayo showed once again that he can be a threat from three-point range. After the game, Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra and teammate Terry Rozier spoke about Adebayo's new weapon in his already vast arsenal.
Adebayo has made at least one three-pointer in seven of the last eight games and it has been evident that specific aspect has been a focus for the star big-man. Against the Blazers, he made two of his three attempts from beyond the arch and while Spoelstra mentioned that while defenses might not adapt this season, he says Adebayo developing in that aspect would “be a cool thing to explore.”
“Probably not this year…I think it'd be a cool thing to explore. For sure. I think it'll take some time before schemes change from other teams,” Spoelstra said. “Teams are always going to, right now play off of them just because of all the other things that he can create, the passing ends, the drives, the aggressiveness, all that stuff, but we're probably gonna look back on this four or five years from now and not even remember that these were those kinds of discussions. And that's the exciting thing about Bam, every single year, he just continues to add and that's a credit to his work ethic and having the right environment where you can explore new things within the context of the team.”
Something from last night…Erik Spoelstra talks about the possibility of Bam Adebayo really focusing on his three-point shooting and making it a focal point.
“I think it’d be a cool thing to explore…” #HeatCulture pic.twitter.com/5VpCGRbMKA
— Zachary Weinberger (@ZachWeinberger) March 30, 2024
Terry Rozier talks Adebayo's three-point ability and leadership
A player that has been developing a rapport with Adebayo has been guard Terry Rozier who was also stellar in the win over the Blazers as he scored 22 points to go along with six assists and three rebounds. Rozier has noticed the uptick in three-point shots for Adebayo and before humorously saying the big-man taking away his attempts, he expressed the team wants him to shoot that shot more.
“Taking away my attempts, I'm just playing,” Rozier joked. “We all want him to shoot it, he's shooting it super confident and you know I think is only gonna keep getting better and make guys have to play him honestly, be even tougher to guard put him out there so I think it's gonna be a huge help our offense.”
With the continuous absence of stars Tyler Herro and Duncan Robinson who runs a lot of actions and plays with Adebayo, Rozier has filled into that role quite seamlessly. He said after the win to the Blazers that he's glad a player like Adebayo is leading the Heat and described him as a player you want to go “to war with you every night.”
“He's our team captain, he's given 100% energy and effort every night and we've got a guy that you look to the right, you look to the left is going to war with you every night,” Rozier said. “They just make you feel good and we all feed off to him. So we are glad to have a guy like that that's leading us.”
Spoelstra talks Adebayo being one assist shy of a triple-double
Adebayo himself had a great game against the Blazers besides the made three-pointers, but possibly bittersweet as he was one assist shy of a triple-double as he scored 23 points, 12 rebounds, and nine assists. While Adebayo would sit for a good portion of the second half since the game got out of hand, he wouldn't get an opportunity to get that one last assist.
However, Spoelstra admitted after the game to the media that they ran a play that would have newcomer Patty Mills free for an open look, but it wasn't successful. The Heat head coach joked about it saying that Mills owes Adebayo “a lunch or coffee or bottle of wine,” but at the end of the day said that “we're not playing for stats.”
“Look,” Spoelstra said, “I don’t want to be a total buzzkill out there. I want the guys to have fun. And that was a fun moment. I think Patty’s going to owe him a lunch or a coffee or bottle of wine or something. Because we tried to run one action for it. I thought we got a good clean look at it. He actually had a second play. I told him you get one crack at it. And I don’t think Patty finished his cut and Bam led him. It would have been a tough layup, but there was another opportunity for that.
“But ultimately, look, we’re not playing for stats. And the way our season has gone, with all the injuries and missed games, I also have to be responsible as the head coach.”
Erik Spoelstra on trying to get that last assist for Bam Adebayo to get a triple double before taking him out since the game was out of hand.
“I don’t want to be a total buzzkill…but we’re ultimately not playing for stats…” #HeatCulture pic.twitter.com/FN2r3b6tuD
— Zachary Weinberger (@ZachWeinberger) March 30, 2024
With nine games left, no excuses for Heat as next contest is winnable
Heading towards the end of the season with nine games left and eventually into the playoffs, Adebayo is sure to be an integral part of the Heat's offense, especially if he continues to hit three-point shots at a consistent rate. At the current moment though, Miami is 40-33 on the season which puts them seventh place in the tightly packed Eastern Conference.
Every game matters at this point where a loss impedes on their chances to get out of contention for the play-in tournament and obtain a top six seed. Miami has no excuses for their next game which is against the Washington Wizards Sunday where they only have 14 wins on the season as Rozier said he hopes the big win can carry some momentum for their upcoming contest.
“I mean, every game counts, every game matters,” Rozier said. “So I think we want to win every game here on now. To win big like this, I think it feels good for the group. Everybody feel good. So going into the DC game, we can do the same thing. Hopefully. But you know, we got to take it one game at a time and we got to build off tonight, but it was it was huge for us.”
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