MIAMI – With the Miami Heat receiving a major return from star Bam Adebayo on Wednesday night, it led to a 110-96 win over the undermanned Golden State Warriors, who were missing Jimmy Butler, Stephen Curry, and Draymond Green. As A'ja Wilson was watching Adebayo lead the Heat to a victory, the big man would speak on returning after missing the last few weeks of action.

Adebayo had missed the last six games with a toe sprain, with the question of whether he would have limited usage, as head coach Erik Spoelstra said before the game that the team would “monitor” his minutes. However, he played close to 29 minutes, scoring 20 points on seven of 13 from the field, three of four from deep, to go along with seven rebounds, three assists, and two blocks.

He definitely got better as the game went on, working to get into a “rhythm,” which Adebayo echoed the same sentiments to ClutchPoints, as he also goes into how he's feeling after his first game back, while wearing a hat that reads “Joy Dealer.”

“I felt good, man, just trying to find a rhythm, not overdo it,” Adebayo said. “Let the game come to me, and it did at some point. And, you know, that's the biggest thing about the game. The way we play, the ball is always gonna find you if you have good intentions, and you're making the right reads.”

The big man would return to the starting lineup, with Spoelstra relegating Kel'el Ware to the bench, as even Adebayo commended the second-year center for the impressive performance, scoring seven points but recording 16 rebounds.

Heat's Bam Adebayo reflects on the road to recovery

Golden State Warriors center Quinten Post (21) defends against Miami Heat center Bam Adebayo (13) during the second half at Kaseya Center.
Rhona Wise-Imagn Images

Going into the Warriors matchup, the Heat's captain was optimistic about his return, with Spoelstra saying time and time again that Adebayo had put in good work since returning to practice. It was no doubt a grueling recovery process, as Adebayo poked fun at the work that Miami athletic trainer Wes Brown put him through, while expressing the frustration of not being out there with his team.

“I love Wes Brown to death,” Adebayo said. “But, I hate being injured with him; he'll do four sets of 80 reps. It's one of those things where I would much rather play injured than get rehab with him. Love you, Wes. But it's difficult sitting over there watching your team battle and compete, and you want to be out there, and you feel like you can impact winning. So it's difficult from that standpoint. But, I always try to figure out how I can play that UD [Udonis Haslem] role sometimes where I can affect the game without even being out there.”

While Miami has areas to clean up offensively, as the team played down to competition against Golden State, missing key guys, his presence was especially felt in the 38-point fourth quarter that put the game away. Spoelstra would express how “great” it was to have him back.

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“He just does so many things for a basketball team,” Spoelstra said. “Defensively, while he was on the floor, I bet the numbers were pretty dang good. That's not a coincidence. And offensively, I think it really fits his strengths, because he's really good at a lot of different things, and if you just limit it to one or two things, that's not really fully maximizing his skillset. It was great to have him back for sure.”

Heat's Norman Powell emphasizes the “big effect” Bam Adebayo has

Despite the Butler narrative of the Heat and Warriors game, though he didn't end up playing, Adebayo's impact was felt by everybody. Miami's leading scorer in Norman Powell, especially highlighted how crucial Adebayo's voice was heard on each side of the ball, saying he was dearly missed.

“Really big effect, not just his activity and what he does and what he brings, but just a steady vocal leader on the defensive event, talking the cuts, the guys in positions, making sure that the coverages are right,” Powell said after scoring 25 points, 17 of them coming in the fourth quarter.

“You know, that's really big,” Powell continued. “We know that he's going to bring energy. We know he's going to bring effort on both sides of the ball, but his voice being on the court, he was vocal on the sidelines, waiting for his return, which is also great, but having him on the floor and kind of controlling the defense is huge for us. So we definitely miss him, and glad to have him back.”

At any rate, Adebayo and Miami (9-6) look to continue stacking the wins as the team now goes on the road for the next two games, starting Friday against the Chicago Bulls and Sunday to face the Philadelphia 76ers.