The Miami Heat improved to 34-20 Saturday night as they defeated the Charlotte Hornets, 104-86. The effort defensively was monumental. Nowhere was that more evident than by Heat big man Bam Adebayo on these plays below.

With the first quarter winding down, Adebayo somehow stays with Hornets point guard Terry Rozier and swats away his shot in the lane. Then in the second quarter, he really turns up the heat defensively.

Adebayo uses his exceptional footwork to stay in front of Hornets superstar LaMelo Ball. Ball is forced to pass it off to Rozier. “Scary Terry” makes a move to his right, hoping to shake Adebayo, to no avail. He almost gets caught in the air but instead drops it off for Miles Bridges. Bridges tries driving past Adebayo to the rack, but has his shot blocked off the backboard by Adebayo.

The Miami Heat sit atop the Eastern Conference with 28 games remaining in the regular season. They were expected to have a decent season, but not play this well.

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The Heat's defense has been their calling card this year. Miami ranks 5th in the NBA in points per game allowed at 104.4. They also rank inside the top 10 in blocks, steals, opponents field goal percentage and forced turnovers.

Adebayo is a big reason for that. He has flourished this year and taken a big step forward in his career. Adebayo is averaging over 18 points and 10 rebounds per game, shooting 51 percent from the field. He also is among the league leaders in steals per game with 1.6.

If Miami is going to make some noise in the postseason, it will be their defense that carries them.