How does Adebayo plan to break out of his shooting slump? ‘Keep shooting’
Heat center Bam Adebayo has gone through shooting slumps before, but he’s handling this one differently.
While his double-double stat line of 16 points and 16 rebounds in Sunday night’s 110-108 home loss to Washington is impressive on the surface, his shooting struggles continued. He was just 1 of 5 on non-rim shots in the paint and 2 of 6 from the foul line.
Through the past three games, Adebayo is shooting 13 of 37 (35.1 percent) from the field, 2 of 16 (12.5 percent) on non-rim shots in the paint and 9 of 18 from the free-throw line.
Those marks are well below his season percentages of 50.8 from the field, 49.1 on non-rim paint shots and 76.1 from the foul line.
But instead of taking fewer shots, as he might have done in a similar situation in the past, Adebayo is going to try to get through this downturn by staying aggressive.
“Keep shooting,” Adebayo said of how he plans to break out of his shooting slump Wednesday in an NBA Finals rematch against Denver at Kaseya Center. “That’s the easiest way, just keep shooting.
“Obviously, my teammates and the coaching staff give me confidence to keep shooting and be aggressive.
“In earlier years, I would have went in my shell and been like I’m just going to play defense tonight. So for me, it’s just taking a step in the right direction by staying aggressive.”
But the experienced, All-Star version of Adebayo has never faced this kind of slump.
The last time he went through a three-game stretch shooting 35.1 percent or worse from the field and 50 percent or worse from the foul was in 2018, during his second NBA season.
“I’m going to have ups and downs in a season,” Adebayo, 26, said. “It’s part of it. If you let it, it will break you. So for me, man, still being aggressive, still taking the shots that I usually take, still getting in the paint, still being aggressive.”
Adebayo reflected on the growth he’s made in dealing with shooting struggles during his NBA career.
“It’s funny because years ago, y’all would have been like, ‘Why don’t you keep shooting?’” Adebayo told reporters. “Now we’re talking about me being in a slump. So it’s just finding my rhythm. Get that back and I feel like we’ll be in good shape after.”
Adebayo, a three-time
NBA All-Star, is still one of only five players averaging at least 19 points, 10 rebounds and four assists this season. The others are Philadelphia’s Joel Embiid, Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo, Denver’s Nikola Jokic and Sacramento’s Domantas Sabonis.
It’s not a coincidence that Adebayo’s shooting slump has come against three teams — Dallas, Oklahoma City and Washington — that have made him a big part of their defensive game plans, sending double teams and clogging the paint against him and Heat co-star Jimmy Butler.
“It’s just something we got to adjust to,” Adebayo said. “Get in the film room, see how we can correct it and get more of a flow.
“When you start to see that same type of defense, we start to get in a flow, you start seeing skip passes, you start seeing the guys who cut back door. Because when you collect all that attention, obviously some guys are ballwatching. For you as the offensive player, you got to make plays.”
THIS AND THAT
Heat guard Patty Mills played in his second straight game Sunday after signing with the Heat last week for the rest of the season.
Mills, a 35-year-old veteran, finished Sunday’s loss with seven points on 3-of-7 shooting from the field and 1-of-4 shooting on threes in 14 minutes off the bench.
“It’s not even him impacting games scoringwise or anything like that,” Adebayo said Sunday of Mills’ early impact. “He’s just a positive guy. He’s positive in the huddles, he’s positive on the sideline. He’s always trying to get guys in tune and he’s still learning our system. So he’s doing it the right way. I feel like he came into this with the right mentality.”
The Heat entered Monday with the NBA’s 22nd-ranked offensive rating and ninth-ranked defensive rating this season.
Anthony Chiang: 305-376-4991, @Anthony_Chiang
MONDAY
Charlotte at Detroit
Phoenix at Cleveland
Dallas at Chicago
Golden State at San Antonio Toronto at Denver
Boston at Portland
SUNDAY
Washington 110, Miami 108
Milwaukee 124, L.A. Clippers 117 New Orleans 116, Atlanta 103 Indiana 111, Orlando 97
Houston 112, Sacramento 104 Philadelphia 79, New York 73 Brooklyn 120, Cleveland 101 Oklahoma City 124, Memphis 93 L.A. Lakers 120, Minnesota 109
Washington Min FG-A FT-A R A F Pt Avdija 35 7-14 1-1 10 2 5 16 Coulibaly 36 4-8 0-0 4 1 2 11 Kuzma 38 9-23 12-16 9 4 2 32 Ty.Jones 38 5-9 0-0 416 0 12 Kispert 39 8-15 1-2 5 6 1 22 Baldwin Jr 11 3-5 1-1 2 0 0 8 J.Davis 9 0-0 1-2 2 0 1 1 Gill 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 Omoruyi 3 1-1 0-0 0 0 1 2 Poole 23 2-6 0-0 4 6 5 6 Shamet 7 0-0 0-0 0 0 1 0
Totals 240 39-81 16-22 40 35 18 110
Percentages: FG .481, FT .727.3-Point
Goals: 16-39, .410 (Kispert 5-10, Coulibaly 3-5, Ty.Jones 2-5, Poole 2-5, Kuzma 2-7, Baldwin Jr 1-3, Avdija 1-4).Team Rebounds: 8.Team Turnovers: 15.Blocked
Shots: 5 (Coulibaly 2, Kuzma 2, Avdija)
.Turnovers: 15 (Kuzma 4, Poole 4, Avdija 2, Kispert 2, Baldwin Jr, Coulibaly, Ty.Jones).Steals: 5 (Coulibaly 2, Avdija, Ty.Jones, Poole).
Miami Min FG-A FT-A R A F Pt Ji.Butler 36 9-20 5-6 3 4 2 23 Jovic 23 3-6 3-3 6 4 3 10 Adebayo 35 7-14 2-6 16 2 3 16 D.Robinson 34 5-16 2-2 2 1 3 16 Rozier 35 8-16 0-0 7 4 2 16 Highsmith 5 1-1 0-0 0 0 0 3 Jaquez Jr 25 3-6 0-1 7 2 2 6 Ca.Martin 30 4-9 0-0 7 3 1 11 Mills 14 3-7 0-0 2 0 2 7 O.Robinson 3 0-0 0-0 1 0 0 0
Totals 240 43-95 12-18 51 20 18 108
Percentages: FG .453, FT .667.3-Point
Goals: 10-33, .303 (D.Robinson 4-13, Ca.Martin 3-3, Highsmith 1-1, Jovic 1-4, Mills 1-4, Jaquez Jr 0-1, Rozier 0-3, Ji.Butler 0-4).Team Rebounds: 7.Team Turnovers: 13.Blocked Shots: 6 (Jaquez Jr 2, Adebayo, Ji.Butler, Jovic, Ca.Martin)
.Turnovers: 13 (D.Robinson 5, Ji.Butler 2, Jaquez Jr 2, Rozier 2, Jovic, Ca.Martin)
.Steals: 9 (Adebayo 2, Jaquez Jr 2, Rozier 2, Ji.Butler, Jovic, Ca.Martin).