Adebayo’s three-point spike for Heat bringing back Bosh memories: ‘He’s a very good shooter’
For those waiting for Miami Heat center Bam Adebayo to incorporate the three-point shot into his game, the wait is apparently over.
After making just 23 threes through the first seven seasons of his NBA career, the bottom line is Adebayo has been among the NBA’s most efficient high-volume three-point shooting big men for the last two-plus months in his eighth NBA season.
With Adebayo making a career-high four three-pointers on six attempts in Friday night’s 153-104 blowout win over the New Orleans Pelicans at Smoothie King Center, he’s now shooting an ultra-efficient 50 of 115 (43.5 percent) from behind the arc in his last 34 games — a stretch that dates back to Jan. 29.
Among the 28 centers around the league who have taken at least three three-pointers per game since Jan. 29, Adebayo owns the highest three-point shooting percentage during this span. Boston Celtics center Kristaps Porzingis ranks second on this list, shooting 41.9 percent from behind the arc since Jan. 29.
“You’re always going to feel good when the shot is going in,” Adebayo, 27, said. “It’s just routine. I work on it pregame, obviously behind the scenes. Just seeing it go in, obviously defenses got to change up the coverages a little bit.”
Adebayo began taking more threes toward the end of last season, shooting 14 of 28 (50 percent) from three-point range during his final 17 regular-season games after shooting just 1 of 14 (7.1 percent) on threes through his first 54 appearances. He closed last regular season with career highs in three-point makes (15) and three-point attempts (42).
But Adebayo started this season cold, shooting just 29 of 106 (27.4 percent) on threes in his first 44 appearances before getting hot for the last 34 games.
“It’s always a process when players add some new dimensions to their game,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra. “Bam was already working on this two years ago. It took some time to feel comfortable shooting it in a game. Last year, the last six to eight weeks of the season, he started to shoot them a little bit more and had some success with that. This summer with the USA team, he had some success with that. And then all season long, everybody has encouraged him that if they’re wide open, shoot it.”
Adebayo is taking and making all types of threes, too. Since Jan. 29, he has shot 29 of 77 (37.7 percent) on above-the-break threes and 21 of 38 (55.3 percent) on corner threes.
“I’ve seen him shoot in practice sessions,” Spoelstra continued. “He shoots them at a high clip. But sometimes it takes some time where you feel comfortable knowing that everybody else feels comfortable about it. And he has a good balance about it of being rugged and aggressive at the rim and in the paint because we need that as well. But it’s also a really good shot for him, especially when it’s a paint touch and we kick it out and nobody closes out to him. He’s a very good shooter.”
Adebayo’s three-point spike brings back memories of Hall of Fame big man Chris Bosh’s three-point evolution with the Heat. After shooting 21 of 74 (28.4 percent) from three-point range in the 2012-13 season, Bosh went on to shoot 74 of 218 (33.9 percent) the following season with the Heat.
But Spoelstra believes the three-point journeys of Adebayo and Bosh are different, with one common thread.
“It’s a little bit different because CB was a really good 17, 18-foot shooter right out of the gate,” Spoelstra said. “Coming into the league, that’s what he did was face up and was really good at the elbows and the mid-post. By the time he got to us, all it was was extending it from 18, 19 feet to behind the NBA three-point line and really we started from the corners.
“They’re kind of different players. Bam came in as a dominant effort, energy defender, winning player, lob threat and then really developed some ball handling, facilitating skills that were different than what CB had. But what is common about both of them is that there’s a commitment to constant evolution and improvement. That’s the thing that I really appreciate about Bam. He just goes to work. He always goes to work and adds new things that can help your team.”
Ahead of Sunday’s regular-season finale against the Washington Wizards at Kaseya Center (1 p.m., FanDuel Sports Network Sun), Adebayo has already set new career highs in three-point makes (79) and three-point attempts (221) for a three-point percentage of 35.7 percent this season.
“He’s been shooting the ball extremely well,” Heat guard Tyler Herro said. “Obviously, over the last couple months, corner threes and now he’s extending his range pretty much everywhere. Bam just has to keep going.”
This story was originally published April 12, 2025 at 1:18 PM.
