The Miami Heat are 0-4 after a 113-109 loss to the Dallas Mavericks on Monday night, and Bam Adebayo is hearing the noise. As first reported by ClutchPoints, Adebayo said “the outside noise wants to make me the scapegoat” for Miami’s worst start in almost two decades.
The numbers explain why the spotlight found him. Adebayo had 8 points on 3-of-10 shooting against Dallas, with 8 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals. On the season he’s averaging 11.8 points, 7.3 rebounds and 3.5 assists while shooting 40% from the field and 16.7% from three.
Bam says it isn’t about overthinking. It’s about the shot not falling. “I got expectations for myself, but, obviously, the outside noise got expectations for us,” he said, adding that he’d rather go through a slow stretch now than in the middle of the season or in April.
The IAHHM Take
The wild part is that Miami lost on a night Giannis Antetokounmpo put up his first triple-double in a Heat uniform: 29 points on 12-of-23 shooting, 15 rebounds and 11 assists. Giannis had his big man’s back, too: “I think it’s not just Bam; it’s everybody.”
That’s the real story. Two bigs who both do their best work near the rim are still figuring out how to share the floor, and Bam’s experiment with the three ball isn’t helping the spacing yet. Erik Spoelstra says Adebayo “just needs to see the ball go in.” Fair, but four games in, the Heat need more than patience.
Miami gets its next shot at win No. 1 Wednesday against the Atlanta Hawks. For more early-season NBA buckets, check out Devin Booker’s 43-point home opener.
Is Bam getting a fair shake, or is the Giannis-Bam pairing the problem in Miami?
Source: ClutchPoints
