Heat’s Bam Adebayo welcomed his night off, but now ready for a return
MIAMI — The time off was appreciated, but the spot on the bench was not particularly comfortable for Bam Adebayo.
After dealing with ongoing discomfort from a lower-back contusion, relief for the Miami Heat center came in the form of a night off Wednesday in Cleveland. But that didn’t make the process any less excruciating, as Adebayo watched the Heat’s tense 107-104 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers to close out a 3-1 trip.
Adebayo said his first game off since Dec. 16 was the product of a conversation with coach Erik Spoelstra and came in the wake of Jimmy Butler and Nikola Jovic being cleared to return Wednesday from their respective two-game absences.
“Sat down, had a conversation with Coach,” Adebayo said. “We got guys back, so he told me it was time to take one.”
He is expected to return for Friday night’s game against the New Orleans Pelicans, the start of the four-game homestand at Kaseya Center.
“More maintenance than anything,” Adebayo said of Wednesday’s break. “I’ll be all right.”
In his first year as Heat captain, Adebayo said the role of bench voice remains an adjustment.
“I don’t like talking on the sidelines, being that captain,” he said. “I like being out there trying to help my guys win.”
That didn’t mean he didn’t enjoy the thrill ride provided by guard Terry Rozier, who scored nine points in Wednesday’s final 1:24, including a four-point play, to give the Heat the victory.
“Terry made big plays,” Adebayo said.
Adebayo, who is on a streak of four consecutive games with a 3-pointer, noted Rozier’s two late 3-pointers.
“I told him he was trying to be like me,” Adebayo said with a smile.
Hometown hero
A native of Youngstown, Ohio, Rozier relished his moment Wednesday, seizing control at the end of his 24-point performance, including the winning 3-pointer with 14.5 seconds to play.
“My teammates and my coaches kept reminding me who I am,” Rozier said. “They told me just to keep shooting. Knowing my guys believed in me meant a lot.”
Doing it in front of family and friends also was meaningful.
“Terry put on a show, man, with half the arena there to see him,” Butler said. “Basketball is supposed to be fun and him doing it somewhat at his crib, in front of his people, was something.”
Rozier’s performance alleviated some of the pressure on Butler, who scored 30 after missing the previous two games with a bruised foot.
“This is why we went after Terry,” Spoelstra said of the Jan. 23 trade that sent Kyle Lowry and a protected future first-round pick to the Charlotte Hornets. “We wanted to have another guy who can make something happen late in games. He’s always been that kind of player in big moments with Charlotte and of course with Boston.”
Others, too
Spoelstra also had praise for Jovic, who had missed the previous two games with a hamstring strain. Spoelstra encouraged Jovic to space the floor in the injury absence of Duncan Robinson, with Jovic 4 of 10 on 3-pointers in his 14-point performance.
“Niko was terrific,” Spoelstra said. “He really worked the last few days to be available and produced, gave us spacing, gave us playmaking, knocked down threes, gave us some intangible plays.”
Also getting his due from Spoelstra was veteran guard Patty Mills, who made his first Heat start, closing with 10 points and four assists.
“Patty is such a savvy veteran winning player that if you don’t look past whatever the shooting numbers may be, you don’t see all the nuances of how he helps,” said Spoelstra, with Mills 1 of 8 on 3-pointers in Cleveland. “He’s been a plus in basically every game that he’s played in, and he definitely impacts our offense with his spacing and his movement.”