Exploring just how important Adebayo has been in Heat-Pacers series: ‘He’s what makes us go’
Bam Adebayo’s enormous impact on both ends of the court is felt beyond the box score.
The screen assists, the ability to defend every position on the court, the defensive contests and the two-man game with sharpshooter Duncan Robinson on the perimeter.
But Saturday was one of those games that the box score was also reflective of Adebayo’s holistic on-court impact. The 23-year-old big man finished the Miami Heat’s Game 3 win over the Indiana Pacers with playoff career-highs in points (22) and rebounds (11), along with five assists and a steal to help give the Heat a commanding 3-0 series lead.
Adebayo’s best work Saturday came in the fourth quarter, when he totaled 11 points and six rebounds. With the Heat ahead by just two points, Adebayo grabbed two huge offensive rebounds — one with 1:54 to play and another with 1:39 to play — to keep an important possession alive that ended with Adebayo drawing a foul and making two free throws to extend Miami’s lead to four, which marked the start of a 10-3 Heat run to close the game.
“His biggest moments came down the stretch on both ends, those rebounds were big time,” coach Erik Spoelstra said, with the Heat looking to compete the first-round sweep of the Pacers in Game 4 on Monday at 6:30 p.m. (Fox Sports Sun, TNT). “We needed those extra relief opportunities, because they jammed us up a couple of times and forced us into a couple of turnovers. Those relief points and those free throws were key.”
Then Spoelstra paused and offered high praise for Adebayo, comparing him to Heat all-time leading rebounder Udonis Haslem.
“Those two rebounds defensively were Udonis-esque,” Spoelstra said.
Adebayo, who was voted into his first All-Star Game this season, has averaged 15.3 points, 8.7 rebounds, five assists, one steal and 1.3 blocks in the first three games of the playoff series. Those numbers are nearly identical to Adebayo’s regular-season statistics, when he averaged 15.9 points, 10.2 rebounds, 5.1 assists, 1.1 steals and 1.3 blocks.
Adebayo and MVP finalist Giannis Antetokounmpo were the only two players in the league who averaged at least 15 points, 10 rebounds, five assists, one steal and one block in the regular season.
But not even those impressive traditional stats say enough about the importance of Adebayo in the Heat’s first-round series.
Miami is clearly better than Indiana when Adebayo is on the court, and the numbers actually indicate the Pacers are the better team when he’s on the bench. The Heat has outscored the Pacers by 50 points in the 101 minutes Adebayo has played in the series, while Indiana has outscored Miami by 20 points in the 43 minutes he has not been on the court.
“I feel like the player that I am, it’s hard to [game plan] me out,” Adebayo said. “That’s because I do a lot of things so well. I’m not trying to pat myself on the back. But just because I screen well, I get guys open. It doesn’t always have to be about scoring with me. In Game 2, I had seven points but everybody said I had the biggest impact on the game. It’s little stuff like that. ... When my shot isn’t falling, when my offense is not going, I always bank on my defense and my effort.”
A look at the advanced metrics show the Heat’s offense has been overwhelmingly more efficient in its first-round series with Adebayo playing. Miami has scored 127.1 points per 100 possessions when Adebayo is on the court, compared to just 88.3 points per 100 possessions when he’s on the bench.
Some of that has to do with the impact Adebayo’s screening has on Miami’s offense in getting shooters open and creating space for cuts to the basket. He entered Sunday averaging the fifth-most screen assists (when a player sets a screen for a teammate that directly leads to a made field goal by that teammate) per game in the playoffs at five, which have helped create 12.3 points per game, according to NBA Advanced Stats.
And some of it has to do with Adebayo’s ability to help Robinson get open looks from three-point range with his screening and their two-man dribble handoff game. Adebayo has assisted on five of Robinson’s 13 made baskets in the series, and the Heat has scored 135.7 points per 100 possessions in the 61 minutes this duo has played together in the first round.
On the defensive end, the Heat has also been significantly better when Adebayo is playing. The Pacers have scored 103.9 points per 100 possessions when Adebayo is on the court, compared to 112 points per 100 possessions when he’s not.
“Bam is just a winner,” Robinson said. “He just wants to win and he leaves it out there every single time we play. To have your leader from a third-year player be like that is special.”
The Pacers have tried to make Adebayo’s life challenging in the series, and it has worked at times. He scored just seven points on 3-of-7 shooting in Game 2, and six of his 22 shots at the rim in the series have been blocked (four by Pacers center Myles Turner).
But among the many things Indiana hasn’t accomplished in the first round? Preventing Adebayo from leaving his fingerprints all over this playoff series.
“Bam doesn’t need anymore confidence,” Adebayo’s fellow Heat All-Star Jimmy Butler said. “Bam knows that he’s one of the top players in this league and he’s only going to continue to get better, because he works and he cares and he studies the game. I always tell you all that he’s the heart and soul behind us. He’s what makes us go. There’s a huge difference whenever he’s on the floor or when he’s off both ends. He doesn’t have anything to prove to anybody. He knows who he is.”
▪ On Sunday’s injury report, the Heat listed Jae Crowder (sprained left ankle), Andre Iguodala (left hip soreness), Derrick Jones Jr. (sprained left ankle) and Chris Silva (strained left groin) as questionable for Monday’s Game 4.
Heat rookie guard Gabe Vincent (sprained right shoulder) remains out. But rookie forward KZ Okpala, who was not available for most of the seeding schedule and the first three games of the playoffs because of personal reasons, was not on Sunday’s injury report.
▪ If the Pacers are able to win Monday and extend the series, the NBA announced that Game 5 between Miami and Indiana would be scheduled for Wednesday at 1:30 p.m. (NBA TV, Fox Sports Sun).
If the Heat eliminates the Pacers on Monday, Miami will likely be off for a full week before beginning its second-round series against either the Milwaukee Bucks or Orlando Magic. The NBA website says the conference semifinals will begin on Aug. 31.
This story was originally published August 23, 2020 at 9:06 AM.
