Mateo’s Hoop Diary: Bam Adebayo dominated as the Heat put away the Suns

The Heatles handled the short-staffed Suns, improving to an 11-10 record. Tyler Herro flirted with a triple-double. Jimmy Butler’s nine straight points in the fourth quarter delivered the knockout blow. And Bam Adebayo erupted in the second half for one of his top showings of the season.  

In the first half, Adebayo struggled, missing three 3-point tries, including airballing one and falling on a close-range floater. But he came out of intermission, attacking the heart of the defense. From the third quarter on, he rim rolled, logged multiple putbacks and two jump shots for most of his 25 points, 12 rebounds and eight dimes. Four of his rebounds were on offense, too.

The Suns were absent Jusuf Nurkić and Kevin Durant, which significantly opened up the back line. Yet, seeing Adebayo take advantage of a tuneup game on his mother’s birthday was encouraging. 

This was only his third game of the season max cracking at least 25 points on at least 50% shooting (9/16). 

Of all his output, his nicest maneuver was taking the ball upcourt and scoring himself in the open court. A player of Adebayo’s athleticism and with his handle must be given more opportunities to showcase this extra dimension of terror. One can’t help but notice how that mandate has helped Cleveland Cavaliers big man Evan Mobley blossom. 

Additionally, Herro was unstoppable, dribbling to the cup. And when the Suns broke within three points in the last five minutes, Butler swished a corner triple and used two screen rolls to get from the top to the cup for layups. 

The Heat won 121-111. The team also had 62 paint points, 20 on the break, 11 via second chances, 19 off turnovers and 22 from the bench. 

After the game, coach Erik Spoelstra credited Adebayo’s leadership for the turning point in the third quarter. “He was the one organizing everybody.”

Adebayo said the game plan was to make Phoenix’s Bradley Beal and Devin Booker take tough shots. 

Observations:

1. Dru Smith next to Haywood Higsmith, Herro, Butler and Adebayo was sharp defensively. It’s a combination that Spoelstra should keep using. After the game, Butler said Smith made it hell for anyone he guarded. 

2.  Heat made 60.6% of effective field goals, which is good enough for the 84th percentile of all games played this season.

3. Herro, Butler and Adebayo combined for 66 digits on 26 of 40 attempts. If they keep playing off each other at this high level, they will be able to avoid the Play-in tournament and go directly to the Playoffs in round one.