Heat’s Bam Adebayo adds another game-winning moment to resume: ‘I’m just really happy for Bam’
Bam Adebayo is on track to leave his mark on the Miami Heat’s record book.
At Adebayo’s current pace, he and Hall of Famer Dwyane Wade could end up No. 1 and No. 2 as the Heat’s all-time career leaders in categories like two-point field goals made, free throws made, assists, steals and points, among others. Adebayo is also on track to overtake Udonis Haslem as the Heat’s all-time rebounder within the next five seasons.
But Adebayo tied another franchise record when he capped off one of his best performances off the season by hitting a walk-off game-winner, lifting the Heat to a dramatic 105-103 victory over the San Antonio Spurs on Saturday night at Frost Bank Center to begin a four-game trip.
On a side out-of-bounds play drawn up by Heat coach Erik Spoelstra with 3.2 seconds left in the fourth quarter, Adebayo caught the inbounds pass from Nikola Jovic and quickly dribbled into a 19-foot midrange jumper that went in right as the final buzzer sounded. That shot broke a 103-103 tie and won the game for the Heat, as teammates mobbed Adebayo on the court in celebration.
“Great shot,” Adebayo, a three-time NBA All-Star, said after clinching the win for the Heat (24-23). “Buzzer beater. Let’s go home.”
According to Couper Moorhead from Heat.com, Adebayo has now made three game-winning, buzzer-beating shots with the Heat during his NBA career. The 27-year-old Adebayo, just in his eighth NBA season, is already tied with Wade for the franchise lead in that category.
“As a kid, you always dream of moments like that, in the backyard, ‘Three, two, one. Buzzer,’” Adebayo said, with the Heat now entering a two-day break before continuing its trip on Tuesday against the Chicago Bulls. “And it just so happened that I’ve had a couple of those in my career. Being able to be in those situations and to actually get the job done is a great feeling, because my teammates and my coaches trust me to get the job done.”
But the game-winner was just part of Adebayo’s big night, as he finished Saturday’s victory with 30 points on 13-of-21 shooting from the field, 2-of-5 shooting on threes and 2-of-2 shooting from the foul line, 13 rebounds, nine assists, two steals and three blocks. It marked the third time that Adebayo has reached the 30-point mark this season, finishing just one assist short of the ninth regular-season triple-double of his NBA career.
With disgruntled Heat star Jimmy Butler away from the team as serves his third team-issued suspension in the last month, Adebayo has needed to step into an even bigger role than usual on and off the court as the team captain. It hasn’t always been easy and the results have been mixed for Adebayo on the court this season, but he has remained a stabilizing force behind the scenes amid all of the noise surrounding the Heat in the wake of Butler’s trade request ahead of Thursday’s NBA trade deadline.
“Bam has been pure, steady this entire season,” Spoelstra said after Saturday’s win in San Antonio. “There’s been a lot of things, but he has been the rock of stability for us and he did all the big muscle things tonight. Defended basically one through five, taking [Spurs guard Stephon Castle] early on, but then also playing at the five, doing the rebounding.
“I was shocked he didn’t have a triple-double. It felt like he had the assists. But then the clarity of on the road, we needed a place where the ball could go and he was very efficient whether we were going to him in the post or the elbow area.”
But Adebayo has struggled with his shooting efficiency for most of the season, as he’s shooting just 46.7 percent from the field this season. That’s a career-low mark for Adebayo, who has shot better than 50 percent from the field in each of the first seven seasons of his NBA career prior to this season.
In addition, Adebayo is shooting only 28.7 percent on a career-high 2.5 three-point attempts per game this season.
Adebayo (53.3 percent true shooting percentage) entered Sunday with the league’s worst true shooting percentage (a shooting percentage that also factors in the value of three-point field goals and free throws) among the 49 players with at least 600 field-goal attempts this season.
Adebayo has shown signs of breaking out of that shooting slump recently, though. Including Saturday’s 30-point outing, he has averaged 25.7 points while shooting 61.2 percent from the field and 4 of 9 (44.4 percent) on threes over the last three games.
“Yeah, man,” Adebayo said when asked if he feels the shooting karma starting to turn for him. “You enjoy somebody’s success, like Tyler [Herro] being an All-Star, Duncan [Robinson] having his moments, Terry [Rozier] having his moments. When you enjoy other people’s success, at some point it’s going to be your turn. The difficult part about it is when you sacrifice, you don’t know how sacrifices look. For me, man, it’s just being as pure as you possibly can.”
It’s also about hitting jumpers, as Adebayo entered Saturday’s game in San Antonio shooting just 33.7 percent on non-paint looks this season (including threes).
But Adebayo shot 8 of 13 (61.5 percent) on non-paint opportunities as part of his standout night against the Spurs, including his midrange game-winner. Adebayo’s six makes in the midrange (outside the paint, inside the three-point line) on Saturday tied his career-high set in 2023.
“Potentially in a game,” Spoelstra said when asked if Saturday’s shooting display was the best h has seen Adebayo’s jumper look this season. “But he’s been working at it so diligently throughout last season and this summer. And then in our shooting sessions and practice sessions, it looks a lot like you saw out here. I just think he has clarity of mind right now and I think that’s a powerful thing.”
Adebayo, who has made one of the NBA’s All-Defensive teams in each of the past five seasons, has remained elite on the other end of the court throughout his rough shooting season. He ranks in the NBA’s 98th percentile for estimated defensive plus-minus this season.
But Adebayo, who signed a maximum contract extension this past summer that keeps him with the Heat through the 2028-29 season when he’ll be 31 years old, knows more is expected of him as a scorer. On Saturday, Adebayo played the role of go-to scorer and added another game-winning moment to his resume.
“I’m just really happy for Bam,” Spoelstra said. “He got to a clean look, he got to his spot and was able to elevate. It was just a beautiful look. To see it floating in the air and then you see the clock go, that’s got to be a great feeling for him.”
This story was originally published February 2, 2025 at 11:05 AM.
