Heat’s Bam Adebayo gets painfully honest on ugly Pelicans loss

Adebayo had 12 points and 10 rebounds in the loss against New Orleans.

The Miami Heat suffered a disheartening loss to the New Orleans Pelicans at the Kaseya Center on Friday night, 111-88, as time runs out to solidify their playoff place. Heat forward Bam Adebayo spoke to the media after the game and discussed what led to the team’s setback in the first game of its current four-game homestand.

The last time these two teams met on Feb. 23, there was a nasty brawl that resulted in numerous players being suspended, including star Jimmy Butler, but Miami was completely healthy. Fast forward to the present, and key players such as Tyler Herro, Kevin Love, and Duncan Robinson are out for the foreseeable future. Adebayo told ClutchPoints that it doesn’t matter “who’s in or out,” they need to “hone in on the little things.”

“I feel like we go out there and play with the right energy, doesn’t matter who’s in or out, we’ve shown all season we

can win with whatever lineup,” Adebayo said at the time. “We just need to hone in on the little things, the detail-

oriented things.”

Asked Bam Adebayo if there is something specific the Heat need to
do in these final 13 games of the season.

“I feel like we go out there and play with the right energy, we just need to hone in on the little things…” #HeatCulture pic.twitter.com/Wn7LP5Beqi

— Zachary Weinberger (@ZachWeinberger) March 23, 2024

Adebayo says Heat missing Tyler Herro, Duncan Robinson, Kevin Love

Despite being undermanned for much of the season due to injuries, the Heat will undoubtedly miss players like Herro, Love, and Robinson. Even Adebayo stated that Miami misses them “a lot” because the three guys contributed so much to the team.

“A lot,” Adebayo replied, expressing how much the Heat miss their injured players. “Just because they play heavy minutes for us, you can’t replace a guy like Duncan [Robinson]who shoots it from anywhere, a guy like Tyler [Herro] who can create his own shot, and obviously the leadership of K-Love [Kevin Love].”

While the three aforementioned players provide a lot to Miami, one thing they all excel at is three-point shooting, which the squad struggled with against the Pelicans on Friday. Aside from shooting 36 percent from the field, they shot only 27.7 percent from deep, missing 34 tries, the most this season and fifth in franchise history.

Herro, the Heat player who is currently struggling with right foot medial tendonitis after being ejected as part of his therapy, missed his 14th straight game Friday.

The last game he played was against the Pelicans on February 23, and he averages 20.8 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 4.4 assists a game while shooting 43.7 percent from the field.

Love has missed the last 12 games due to a right heel bruise, with his most recent action coming on February 27 in a win against the Portland Trail Blazers. Aside from shooting from three, he was an important backup center for Adebayo because he provided spacing, senior leadership, and more.

 

 

Adebayo talking about the poor offense plaguing the defense

Far too frequently, the Heat’s lackluster offense has dictated how the defense operates, as was the case against the Pelicans. Adebayo stated the rationale was not entirely correct this time around, citing how when Miami fell out of sync, New Orleans reacted and became hot late.

“I feel like we just got out of flow,” Adebayo added. “I don’t really feel like it effected the defense, but obviously when teams are getting stopped, they get a different type of flow, type of energy, they start making tough shots, guys start playing harder.”

However, it was a mixed bag on defense, as the Heat held star Zion Williamson scoreless in the first half for the first time in his NBA career. He finished with four points, but Miami allowed others on the Pelicans feast, especially CJ McCollum, who had 30 and was slippery throughout the game.

Pelicans kept Adebayo at bay Friday night

On offense, Adebayo finished with 12 points and 10 rebounds, making four of his seven field goal attempts. Not an awful shooting %, but the Pelicans clogged the paint, preventing Adebayo from getting any shots up, as he stated after the game that in order for him to be activated, he and the team must perform in other areas.

“I feel like for us we just have to do the little things,” Adebayo stated at the time. “Details on screens, getting players open, putting in extra effort to cut. Also, we need to share the ball and find methods to provide each other open shots.”

The Heat are presently 38-32 on the season, ranking sixth in the tightly packed Eastern Conference. With only 13 games remaining in the regular season, there is little room for mistake, as their next game is the second in the current home stand, against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Sunday.