As the Miami Heat lost to the Phoenix Suns Wednesday night in another close one, 115-112, there were many aspects of the game that have stood out to fans. One involves the continuation of the slow start to Heat star Bam Adebayo, who had another disappointing outing against the Suns, as head coach Erik Spoelstra eases the concerns people might have about the center.
It was not all bad for Adebayo in the contest against Phoenix as he finished with 12 points, collecting 12 rebounds, recording six assists, and even had five steals. However, it was the shooting numbers that stood out to many, as in the 21 shot attempts, he only made five as Spoelstra calls that an “anomaly,” according to Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald.
“We know who he is. It was an anomaly,” Spoelstra said on the performance of Adebayo Wednesday facing the Suns. “He had three or four sometimes in one possession, all makeable shots. That’s just sometimes the breaks of the game.”
Heat’s Erik Spoelstra on Bam Adebayo being “incredible”
While there were original problems with Adebayo’s low usage that have been addressed, it was the efficiency that became the focus this time around. However, Spoelstra would say that the bright spot of the cold shooting night for Adebayo was that the looks he attempted were the ones he and the rest of the team were looking for.
“His shots were great,” Spoelstra said. “Those were all in the wheelhouse, inside the dots. He had a lot of point-blank shots. It’s going to happen.”
There is no doubt that Adebayo was hoping to build off the performance against the Washington Wizards on Nov. 2, where he scored 32 points on 12 for 24 shooting and three of five from deep while collecting 14 rebounds. Despite the down outing, Spoelstra would say that the 27-year-old was “incredible” in the mark he left on the game in other areas.
“He still had an incredible impact,” Spoelstra said. “He had five steals, 12 on the glass. That’s what it’s about ultimately, it’s competing, regardless of whether you’re making shots or not. He had that mental toughness to be able to do that.”
Adebayo is considered to be a cornerstone for the Heat, so it is expected that people will have questions about his performances, though his number one goal is to be a part of winning. On the other hand, with how close the game was Wednesday against a surging Suns team, his effectiveness could have led to a positive result for Miami.
Bam Adebayo’s low usage was a priority for Heat
Still, the Heat’s starting lineup is looking to build chemistry as, besides Adebayo, the ball has to get around to Jimmy Butler, Tyler Herro, Terry Rozier, and Nikola Jovic. Time will tell on Jovic’s time in the Heat starting lineup if Wednesday was any indication, but the goal is to always get Adebayo in rhythm which Spoelstra mentioned after the disappointing and close loss to the New York Knicks on Oct. 30.
“But obviously we need to get the ball to Bam too, you know. And that’s on me. I have to find a way,” Spoelstra said. “This is not about a new offense, this is about having all of our guys healthy. We have the most weapons that we have, and we score, you know, 107 points. You know, that’s not what we’re aiming for right now. You know, everybody’s got to be able to feel aggressive. They got to be able to feel like themselves and you know, we’ll get there, and that’s on me to get Bam in the spots where he can feel more comfortable whether that’s pick and roll, whether it’s flashes, you know, the elbow, whether it’s in the post, all the different areas where he can, we’ll get better with that.”
Heat’s second half struggles continue in loss to Suns
It has been a rough patch for Miami as they are in the midst of a two-game losing streak where the difference of play in the first half compared to the second has been drastic and eye-opening. While that is clear to see when looking at the game and from the box score, the advanced statistics put the problem into clear light.
“The Heat has outscored opponents by a dominant margin of 13.1 points per 100 possessions in first halves this season,” Chiang of The Miami Herald said. “But that success has been negated by its third-quarter issues with teams outscoring the Heat by 30.8 points per 100 possessions in that period.”
The problem of play in the third quarters for Heat has been mentioned by players before, but they are still trying to find a way to close contests out. In the loss against the Suns, they actually had a solid third quarter, leading by as much as 15 points, but the Suns came roaring back winning the game.
“We’re in these games,” Butler said. “We just got to figure out a way to close these games. We got to figure out a way to hold our leads. But we’re doing a lot of good things and we just have these lapses. They go against us at the wrong time and cost us a loss.”
Heat looking to play more consistently
It was Butler’s mistake at the end of Wednesday’s game that led to Miami losing another close game as the Heat suffered the same fate against the Sacramento Kings, where Domantas Sabonis made the go-ahead shot very late in the game. Miami star Haywood Highsmith, who had an impeccable game off the bench, spoke about where the team will look at in trying to play more consistently.
“We don’t really do the moral victories, we want to get the real one,” Highsmith said. “But I think we can just look at the stretches in the game when we played consistently good and then we had the lead and playing good basketball on both ends of the floor. Just got to try to make that more consistent and keep building off of that.”
At any rate, Miami is 3-4 as they are in the midst of a rough six-game road trip where they next face the Denver Nuggets Friday night.
