Miami Heat's Bam Adebayo 'did OK' in playoff debut, but much more is needed
.JPG "Miami Heat's Bam Adebayo, right, in action against Philadelphia 76ers' Amir Johnson, left, during the first half in Game 1 Saturday's 130-103 loss in the first round of their playoff series.")
Check another to-do off Bam Adebayo's impressive rookie bucket list.
He has now appeared in a playoff game.
It just didn't go how he would have preferred.
Adebayo scored six points and pulled a lone rebound in 20 minutes in the Heat's 130-103 Game 1 loss to the 76ers on Saturday.
About the only thing remarkable about his evening: He played eight more minutes than Hassan Whiteside, who despite earning $21 million more than Adebayo this season, hardly played.
Much has been made about Erik Spoelstra's decision to make Whiteside a starter in name only for much of the past month. But a buried subplot: Can Adebayo, still just 20, do enough this postseason to convince the Heat it has enough down low to move on from Whiteside this summer?
Spoelstra was, by and large, pleased with how Adebayo acquitted himself Saturday.
"I'm not going to make it any more dramatic," Spoelstra said. "He's playing and he's contributing. He doesn't get sick at sea. It's not the same in college, but he's been in some big-time situations before. It's how you manage emotion and focus on only the task at hand and he does that very well."
Adebayo was minus-15 in those 20 minutes, but that's less an indictment on him than it is on the Heat defense in general. Miami allowed 18 three-pointers and forced just 10 turnovers against Philadelphia's athletic lineup.
The playoffs had "way more intensity, way more of an edge" than the regular season, Adebayo said Monday. "It’s an indescribable moment. This is my first time, but I’m grateful to get out there. It was fun to be out there being with my teammates in the first one. We’re looking to make a push."
On Saturday, the Heat got pushed around. Miami was outscored 74-43 in a embarrassing second half. Still, for Adebayo, the game was as much a class as a competition.
Dwyane Wade pulled him aside during the third quarter to remind him how to read defenders on screens, saying that his young teammate is "a quick study. Anything I've talked to him about he makes the adjustment immediately. So, guys like that you're excited to tell him something."
Adebayo's take: "It’s a veteran teaching a rook so you take that under my belt, we’re moving forward. I’m in the second unit with him so he’s just trying to get on the same page."
Wade said Adebayo "did OK" in his first playoff game. A better way to describe it: He looked like a rookie. Some good. Some bad. Adebayo's six points were tied with Kurt Thomas for 11th-most by a Heat rookie in his playoff debut; Wade is first on that list, scoring 21 against the New Orleans Hornets in 2004.
Adebayo was just in grade school during that game. The only comparable experience he has to NBA Playoff basketball was the NCAA Tournament. He likened Saturday night's debut to Kentucky's loss to North Carolina in the Elite Eight a year ago.
This story was originally published April 16, 2018 at 3:50 PM with the headline "Miami Heat's Bam Adebayo 'did OK' in playoff debut, but much more is needed."