Bam gets a berth on Lillard’s dream team: ‘It’s respect for what I do’
Tuesday night’s matchup between the Heat and Trail Blazers at Moda Center could have been Damian Lillard’s first game back in Portland after being traded to Miami.
But after the Trail Blazers denied Lillard’s request to be traded to the Heat and dealt the eighttime All-Star guard to Milwaukee in September, what once was a game slated to be aired on TNT was dropped from the national TV schedule.
It’s also why any discussion regarding the pairing of Heat center
Bam Adebayo and Lillard is now merely a hypothetical instead of what seemed to be an inevitability last summer. It’s a fantasy that again drew headlines during the recent All-Star break when Lillard was asked to name his dream NBA lineup during a TikTok interview with social media personality Nelson Neumann.
“It would be me, LeBron [James], Steph [Curry], Kevin Durant, and I’m gonna go with Bam Adebayo,” Lillard said.
How did that make Adebayo feel?
“Out of all the dudes he could have chosen, he chose me,” Adebayo told the Miami Herald. “I feel like it’s respect for what I do, how I’ve improved over this year and from where I started.”
One of the biggest reasons for Lillard’s interest in joining the Heat was his close friendship with Adebayo. The two developed a strong bond while playing together and winning a gold medal with Team
For results of Tuesday night’s Heat-Trail Blazers game, go to
USA at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021.
That Olympics experience helped Adebayo build close relationships with a few NBA superstars, including Lillard and Durant.
“I feel like just understanding what I bring to the table, that I can impact winning,” Adebayo said of
how the Olympics enhanced his reputation among his peers. “Even though they say, ‘Oh, he’s undersized,’ or whatever the case may be. ‘He’s still impacting winning at the highest level no matter who they play against or who he plays against.’”
Adebayo again proved as much in Monday night’s short-handed, 121-110 win in Sacramento. It was Miami’s fourth win in a row and eighth in the last 10 games.
With the Heat missing eight players because of suspensions and injuries, Adebayo was dominant on both ends of the court, recording 28 points, 10 rebounds, seven assists, two steals and one block.
Adebayo, 26, is one of only three players in the NBA who entered Tuesday averaging at least 20 points, 10 rebounds, four assists, one steal and one block this season, along with Philadelphia’s Joel Embiid and Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo.
“If you look at his numbers as an offensive player, they continue to get better every year,” former
Heat captain Udonis Haslem said recently of Adebayo’s growth since the Heat drafted him 14th overall in 2017. “But the thing that has been so special about Bam is his defensive numbers haven’t dropped.
“On switches and manto-man matchups, he’s just as effective in getting a stop as he was earlier in his career when he was just considered a defender. So to see that true twoway player and that he’s bought in to everything the culture is about is just a joy for me to see.”
Haslem added that the biggest difference he’s noticed about Adebayo on offense is “everything doesn’t have to come off the pick-and-roll.”
“He’s getting the ball and he’s getting it on the block and he has a couple go-to moves and things that he’s very comfortable going to,” said Haslem, who was Adebayo’s teammate for six seasons before retiring in July. “... I think he’s more consistent and more confident getting the ball in scoring positions, getting to his spots and making his shots.”
As for Adebayo’s dream NBA starting lineup, he threw out the same names as Lillard.
“It would probably be me, Dame, KD, Steph and Bron,” Adebayo said. “Ain’t that the same five? Yeah, it makes sense.”
Then Adebayo smiled and added one more name.
“Sixth man? Yeah, I’ll take Jimmy [Butler].”
THE WRIGHT TIME
With the Heat missing so many rotation players Monday, veteran guard Delon Wright started in his Heat debut.
Wright, who signed for the rest of the season during the All-Star break after agreeing to a buyout with the Washington Wizards, made an impact, too. He contributed 13 points (on 3-of-5 shooting from the field, 2-of-4 on threes and 5-of-6 from the foul line), two rebounds, five assists, two steals and one block in 35 minutes.
“The player of the game for us in the locker room was Delon,” coach Erik Spoelstra said. “I don’t think his stat line was [considered] spectacular by people probably on the outside. But, man, he plays winning basketball. He guards. Offensively, he just has a great knack for knowing how to make the right play — 35 minutes, didn’t turn the ball over and made some big plays. The threes, but also the playmaking and the free throws down the stretch were really important.”
With the five assists and zero turnovers, Wright entered Tuesday with 87 assists to just 11 turnovers this season. Among NBA players who have appeared in at least 30 games this season, Wright holds the second-best assist-to-turnover ratio at 7.91, behind only Sacramento’s Kessler Edwards.
“I just wanted to come in and play how I know how to play,” Wright, 31, said after the game. “Take care of the ball, play good defense, get deflections and then I knew the rest was going to take care of itself. My teammates found me for some open threes, that kind of opened up the game for me once I saw a few go in.”
Wright’s usual role will be off the bench, but he stepped up with the team short-handed.
“Going against the Heat over the years, I already knew what to expect,” he said. “It’s always the next man up.”
Anthony Chiang: 305-376-4991, @Anthony_Chiang
For summaries, complete standings and results go to the eEdition at MiamiHerald.com.
Atlantic
Boston
New York Philadelphia Brooklyn Toronto Southeast
Miami Orlando Atlanta Charlotte Washington Central
Cleveland Milwaukee Indiana Chicago Detroit
Southwest
New Orleans Dallas Houston Memphis San Antonio Northwest
Minnesota Oklahoma City Denver
Utah
Portland Pacific
W
45 35 33 22 22 W
32 32 25 15 9 W
37 37 33 27 8
W
34 33 25 20 11 W
40 40 39 27 15 W
L
12 23 24 35 36
L
25 26 32 42 48
L
19 21 26 30 49
L
24 24 32 38 47
L
17 17 19 31 41
L
L.A. Clippers
Phoenix
Sacramento
L.A. Lakers
Golden State
WEDNESDAY
New Orleans at Indiana, 7:30 Dallas at Toronto, 7:30 Memphis at Minnesota, 8 Cleveland at Chicago, 8 Sacramento at Denver, 9
L.A. Lakers at L.A. Clippers, 10
TUESDAY
Miami at Portland
Dallas at Cleveland
Brooklyn at Orlando
Golden State at Washington
37 34 33 31 29
19 24 24 28 27
Pct
.789 .603 .579 .386 .379
Pct
.561 .552 .439 .263 .158
Pct
.661 .638 .559 .474 .140
Pct
.586 .579 .439 .345 .190
Pct
.702 .702 .672 .466 .268
Pct
.661 .586 .579 .525 .518
GB
— 101⁄2 12 23 231⁄2 GB
—
7 17 23 GB
— 1 51⁄2 101⁄2 291⁄2
GB —
81⁄2 14 23 GB
— — 11⁄2 131⁄2 241⁄2 GB
— 4 41⁄2 71⁄2 8
Utah at Atlanta
Philadelphia at Bosto
New Orleans at New York San Antonio at Minnesota Detroit at Chicago
Charlotte at Milwaukee Houston at Oklahoma City MONDAY
Miami 121, Sacramento 110 Toronto 130, Indiana 122 New York 113, Detroit 111 Brooklyn 111, Memphis 86
Miami Min FG-A FT-A R A F Pt Jaquez Jr 37:41 12-17 1-2 5 2 2 26 Ca.Martin 40:18 6-14 1-1 6 1 2 16 Adebayo 36:03 11-18 6-7 10 7 1 28 D.Rbnsn 38:36 1-11 2-3 4 11 3 4 Wright 35:20 3-5 5-6 2 5 0 13 Highsmith 28:54 6-9 0-0 4 0 3 15 Love 15:14 6-9 5-6 7 1 1 19 Swider 4:49 0-2 0-0 100 0 A.Willms 3:05 0-2 0-0 000 0
Totals 240 45-87 20-25 39 27 12 121
Percentages: FG .517, FT .800. 3-Point Goals: 11-30, .367 (Highsmith 3-5, Ca.Martin 3-6, Love 2-3, Wright 2-4, Jaquez Jr 1-2, Adebayo 0-1, A.Williams
0-1, Swider 0-2, D.Robinson 0-6). Team Rebounds: 7. Team Turnovers: 11. Blocked Shots: 3 (Adebayo, Highsmith, Wright).
Turnovers: 11 (Adebayo 5, Jaquez Jr 2, D.Robinson 2, Love, Ca.Martin). Steals: 12 (Highsmith 3, Jaquez Jr 3, Adebayo 2, Wright 2, Ca.Martin, D.Robinson).
Sac Min FG-A FT-A R A F Pt H.Barnes 19:48 3-7 2-2 2 0 1 10 Ke.Murray 35:52 10-14 2-2 5 1 5 28 Sabonis 40:16 6-8 1-4 1410 2 14 Fox 38:32 13-24 0-0 8 6 2 27 Huerter 37:50 5-15 2-2 5 2 2 14 Duarte 16:46 0-2 0-0 1 1 0 0 Lyles 20:47 2-3 0-0 3 0 5 5 Da.Mitch 9:28 2-2 0-0 1 3 0 4 Monk 20:41 4-10 0-2 2 7 3 8
Totals 240 45-85 7-12 41 30 20 110
Percentages: FG .529, FT .583. 3-Point Goals: 13-32, .406 (Ke.Murray 6-7, H.Barnes 2-3, Huerter 2-9, Lyles 1-1, Sabonis 1-1, Fox 1-5, Duarte 0-2, Monk 0-4). Team Rebounds: 5. Team Turnovers: 15. Blocked Shots: 5 (Duarte, Fox, Lyles, Da.Mitchell, Ke.Murray). Turnovers: 15 (Fox 7, Sabonis 4, Huerter, Lyles, Monk, Ke.Murray). Steals: 10 (Fox 3, Ke.Murray 3, Monk 2, H.Barnes, Duarte).