MIAMI – As the Miami Heat lost its sixth straight game of the season, this time to the Boston Celtics on Friday night, it was another contest with a forgettable performance from star Bam Adebayo. The Heat big man had been in a monster resurgence over the last month as head coach Erik Spoelstra explains his confidence in a turnaround for him specifically.
After a strong March and 22 games of recording double-digit points and shot attempts, the past two outings against the Los Angeles Clippers and Celticshave seen Adebayo score six and nine points on seven shot attempts respectively. When Spoelstra was asked about the limited opportunities for the 27-year-old, he would mention how the team will be “intentional to try to get him involved.”
“The Clipper game, they just took us out of everything we normally like to do tonight,” Spoelstra said. “You know, I thought we were making the right plays, and Bam was making the right plays. We obviously want to get him involved and be intentional to try to get him involved. There’ll probably be some opportunities to give him some catches, but I don’t think that was necessarily the deal. You know, we’ll get him involved. There was some other swing moments like I mentioned that had a bigger impact. He’s been playing great, obviously, the last six weeks.”
Erik Spoelstra on back to back games with Bam Adebayo not getting a lot of opportunities on offense. #HeatNation pic.twitter.com/ks6dtxX96j
— Zachary Weinberger (@ZachWeinberger) March 15, 2025
There is no doubt that the gameplan needs to be Adebayo getting more offensive opportunities, but is also focused on being a playmaker.
“I don’t think there’s anything somebody is doing. We’re well beyond that in my career,” Adebayo said. “But, it’s one of those things where Coach wants us to move the ball, get the ball moving, and that’s what we’re going to do and we’ll figure it out from there.”
Bam Adebayo on the back to back games of a lackluster offensive output and if it’s either what the opposing defense is doing or if he needs to be more proactive on offense.
“I don’t think it’s anything that somebody’s doing, we’re well beyond that in my career…” #HeatNation pic.twitter.com/5kiy3chpYh
— Zachary Weinberger (@ZachWeinberger) March 15, 2025
Bam Adebayo on the common theme of the Heat’s fourth quarter outings
Besides Adebayo’s usage on the offensive side of the ball, the Heat experienced another fourth quarter meltdown as while they remained competitive against Boston, the team only scored 14 in the final frame and couldn’t outlast their opponent. Adebayo would say that it wasn’t because of the shots taking as “they’re not going in.”
“Feel like we’re getting the shots we wanted, but they’re not going in,” Adebayo said. “When you get good looks, you got to live with that. At the end of the day, it is what it is. We just gotta figure out how we can, while we’re missing, also get stops.”
Bam Adebayo speaks on what is contributing to these downfalls in the fourth quarter. #HeatNation pic.twitter.com/m9mSbHja8T
— Zachary Weinberger (@ZachWeinberger) March 15, 2025
While the offense is crucial for the team to succeed, they are also built for their tough identity on defense which Adebayo pointed to as being the common theme for the disappointing fourth quarter performances.
“I think it’s the defensive end, honestly,” Adebayo said. “You know, one night, we can’t get a stop one-on-one, the other night, second chance points, the other night is offensive rebounding. When we learn to check all three of those boxes every game, we’ll figure it out.”
Bam Adebayo would credit the defensive end as leading to the fourth quarter meltdowns. #HeatNation pic.twitter.com/xIuc3oPv9q
— Zachary Weinberger (@ZachWeinberger) March 15, 2025
Heat’s Bam Adebayo presence as captain crucial
Besides being a top player for the organization, Adebayo is the Heat’s captain who has to be the leader on and off the floor, and help everybody get in line. One of the responsibilities could also be getting newcomers acclimated like with Andrew Wiggins and Davion Mitchell who have been constant contributors since being traded as Adebayo spoke about them getting comfortable defensively.
“I mean, you see the game really went down to the wire for like the last six minutes of the fourth, you see they add a different element,” Adebayo said. “Obviously, Davion is a pit bull on ball. We want him to be that. Then Wiggs, just has that versatile, versatile aspect, where we can switch everything.”
This season, Adebayo has been averaging 17.5 points, 10 rebounds, and 4.4 assists per game while shooting 48.8 percent from the field. While the team is on a six-game skid, the Heat face the Memphis Grizzlies Saturday night in the second contest of the back-to-back as Adebayo stresses having “short-term memory.”
“That’s the thing, That’s the good thing about the NBA, we got one tomorrow. Short-term memory,” Adebayo said.
Bam Adebayo stresses short-term memory about Friday’s loss as Heat travel to Memphis for tomorrow’s game. #HeatNation pic.twitter.com/t1bOGBR9ZY
— Zachary Weinberger (@ZachWeinberger) March 15, 2025
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