BBNBA: The Bam Adebayo revenge game

by:Eric Decker•05/22/22•

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On3 image — Photo by Nathaniel S. Butler I NBAE via Getty Images

In the midst of one of the strangest playoff games we’ve seen so far this postseason, Bam Adebayo broke out of a nasty slump in Miami’s six-point win over Boston to take a 2-1 series lead. Let’s take a look at how it all went down.

Heat hold off late comeback from Boston

Adebayo started the weekend getting awarded a spot on the All-Defensive Second Team, which makes total sense when looking at his regular season achievements this season. The playoffs though? It’s been a wildly different story for the big man down in Miami.

He’s still played valuable defense, but his overall numbers seem to take a total nosedive over the past few weeks. Or at least that was the case until Saturday night, when the star center nearly dropped a triple-double against the Cetlics.

Bam Adebayo

Games 1+2: Game 3:
16 PTS 31 PTS
13 REB 10 REB
3 AST 6 AST
0 STL 4 STL
6-10 FG 15-22 FG pic.twitter.com/EqI4RiT41d
— StatMuse (@statmuse) May 22, 2022

Adebayo had been essentially invisible during the first two games of this series — whether that be a direct impact of Robert Williams III going in and out of the lineup or not, it certainly wasn’t ideal.

To go along with the 31 points and 10 rebounds, Adebayo also picked up four steals and a block on the defensive end to help shut down a late comeback attempt from the Celtics. There’s a legit argument that he’s the best big man left in the playoffs. It’s nice to see him finally realize that and dominate a basketball game again.

Bam Adebayo on who pushed him most to be aggressive:

“UD’s the biggest person I can say. He can impact the game so much without even being on the court.”
— Brady Hawk (@BradyHawk305) May 22, 2022

In spite of Bam’s success, our other baby boy just can’t seem to put it together yet in the playoffs. Tyler Herro is starting to see his minutes decline as the postseason rolls on, mostly in part to his disastrous play on the court.

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Herro had another rough night for the Heat in Game 3, putting up eight points on 4-15 shooting from the field with a 0-6 mark from deep. The Heat won — everything is okay — but they’re seriously going to have to figure something out to get Herro out of his slump. He’s shooting just 39 percent overall and is just 1-14 from deep through three games against the Celtics.