The Miami Heat fell to the Philadelphia 76ers on Monday in a low-scoring affair, with Philly coming out on top 98-91.
The Heat did well just to make things interesting in the fourth quarter, outscoring the 76ers 26-19 in the final frame, but star big man Bam Adebayo didn’t have a hand in any of his squad’s fourth-quarter scoring.
He didn’t attempt a shot in the fourth quarter, and after the game, he and head coach Erik Spoelstra addressed that.
“A lot of moving parts to that,” Adebayo said upon being asked why he finished the fourth without a shot attempt. “But that’s a Spo question.”
Spoelstra indicated that Philly’s defensive scheme had a lot to do with the way the fourth quarter went for Adebayo on offense.
“They were packing the paint like crazy, almost daring us to shoot from the three-point line,” Spoelstra said. “We had to shoot some of those just to keep them honest. Post-ups, there really wasn’t anywhere to go. Elbow catches or any kind of pick-and-roll to throw it back to him, there wasn’t anywhere to go because they were just sending multiple defenders into the paint.”
Adebayo finished the game with 20 points, 13 boards and six assists. He was very efficient when he did shoot the ball, going 8-for-10 from the field and 2-for-2 from deep, but his quiet fourth quarter certainly overshadowed that a bit.
While the big man has scored 20 points or more in three straight games, he failed to reach 20 points in any of the five games prior. March has been a bit of a rocky month for him, though he did have a huge moment over the weekend.
Overall, Adebayo is having another strong season. He’s averaging 19.9 points, 10.6 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game while contributing elite defense.
He’s also starting to become more of a threat from 3-point range, even if the sample size is small. He’s shooting 31.6 percent from deep this season.
Adebayo will look to rinse away the taste of Monday’s defeat when the Heat play the Cleveland Cavaliers on the road Wednesday. The Cavs will be missing Donovan Mitchell in that game, so Miami will have a chance to take advantage and pick up a win.
The Heat are 37-31 with less than a month remaining in the regular season. They’re hoping to avoid the play-in tournament and will certainly need Adebayo’s help in order to do so. With any luck, it will be a long time before he has another game in which he fails to take a fourth-quarter shot.