From the beginning, you could tell something was different.
In his entire postseason career, Bam Adebayo had never taken a shot in the first two minutes of the game after four or more dribbles. That may sound far too specific, but it’s an easy way to filter out all the randomness and get right down to what we’re really looking for which are shots that Adebayo had to create entirely on his own. Him vs. The Other Guy shots. Go and get it shots.
SHOP
Adebayo had taken one of those early shots in a postseason game before, and it was in Game 2 against Boston. That one, with Adebayo posting up the smaller Jaylen Brown on a switch, was wobbly. Brown poked the dribble away and after Adebayo recovered, he wound up forcing a contested fadeaway jumper that clanged off the heel of the rim. Not exactly the outcome that Adebayo, nor Erik Spoelstra, is looking for.
That’s not the shot Adebayo took in the opening minutes of Game 3. After Kyle Lowry, in his return from a hamstring injury, immediately gassed up the transition offense with a push off a rebound that eventually became a Max Strus trail three, Miami’s next possession began with Adebayo bringing the ball up the court. With his teammates all running to the weakside, all that was between Adebayo and the rim was Al Horford.
One second later, Horford was not between Adebayo and the rim.
That morning at the team’s shootaround, Spoelstra had said something a little different himself. Spoelstra has long attempted to combat criticism of Adebayo, and he’s never been off base in his approach to doing so. For years, Spoelstra has remained on message when it came to his All-Star center. It’s not about the scoring or the points or the shots. It’s about his unselfishness in creating opportunities for his teammates, and the burden that comes with the team needing him to play the engine to the offense. It’s about his defense, as one of the most switchable centers in the history of the league. It’s about his impact on winning. All of it true, and the reminders were oft needed.
But after Adebayo attempted just four and six shots in two homes games against the Celtics – amounting to a combined usage rate under 11, below where P.J. Tucker finished the regular season – Spoelstra’s tact changed.
“We want him more involved. I have to do a better job of that, of making sure he’s involved, engaged,” he said at shootaround. “I think we’ll be able to get him in places where he can be assertive.”
The response was colossal. Not only did Adebayo answer the call with 31 points and a team-leading +17, his 22 field-goal attempts were a career-high for any game, postseason or otherwise – which happens to be Kevin Garnett’s postseason high with the Celtics, if that interests you. More pointedly, 15 of those shots were unassisted – also a career-high.
“I needed to pick up my weight,” Adebayo said. “These last couple of games, my team has been depending on me and I haven’t showed up. I took it upon myself to lock in.”
With two minutes left in the first half, Adebayo had Brown on him again. As Lowry directed traffic, Adebayo stopped just outside the paint, waited for the ball to reach the wing and raised his hand offering a target. This time, there was no fadeaway jumper. Face up. Baseline dribble. Spin back. Hook. He moved Brown where he wanted him to go. He dictated.
“It wasn't just leaning back and shooting floaters,” Strus said. “He was being physical. He was getting to the rim. He was just involved a lot more, and we need that.”
“Adebayo kind of put his shoulder into whoever was guarding him, into their chest,” Celtics coach Ime Udoka said. “Guys have to take ownership of that matchup and defend like we're capable of.”
Some of Adebayo’s usual diet was present. A feed from Lowry or Strus or Tyler Herro on the rim run when the defense overreacted to the shooters. An offensive rebound and-one. A pass from Jimmy Butler in transition after running the floor. All the usual shots that come his way when the offense is functioning as intended and Adebayo is playing with his usual energy. On most any other nights those shots would have been sufficient. With the Celtics clawing their way back from a 26-point deficit after the HEAT took the first quarter, 39-18, and Butler taken out for the rest of the game at halftime due to knee inflammation, someone was going to have to create enough of something. Of anything.
“He just stabilized us,” Spoelstra said. “It got a little gnarly out there and when it did, we were able to get the ball to Bam and just get something coherent.”
Sometimes you just have to be the guy to take the shot, make or miss, because that is what is required. Some nights, with Boston’s switching defense doing everything it can to flatten out a team that wants to move the ball, Goose isn’t enough. You need Maverick. There’s stability in willingness.
“Tonight we needed the scoring and we needed kind of that offensive punch early on,” Spoelstra said.
Up four with 90 seconds left and four seconds on the shot clock, another handoff for Strus isn’t the need even if Strus had hit the biggest shot of his career the possession prior. Up four with 90 seconds left and four seconds on the shot clock is when the talent plays. Nobody else, on the road with a hostile crowd bearing down, is going to keep the powder keg quiet.
“He did his version of what Jimmy does in terms of doing what's necessary for the game,” Spoelstra said. “He was extremely assertive. It happened in a lot of moments that were fully in the context of how we want to play. He was just way more assertive on the catch and those moments in between.”
On the catch stands out there. While Spoelstra assuredly pushed a few buttons to get Adebayo in the right spots, especially with Lowry on hand to conduct the orchestra, the implication is that no matter where Adebayo was touching the ball, what mattered most was what he did with it. You can draw up whatever you want to draw up, the only one who can do it is the guy who does the doing. The ball finds energy, as it always has with Adebayo, but it also finds desire.
“Same old play calls,” Adebayo said when asked if anything was different about the offense in Game 3. “Just a different mentality.”
“Bam took it on himself,” Lowry said.
Will it look the same in Game 4? Maybe, maybe not. Maybe that’s the need, maybe it isn’t. Adebayo was a good isolation scorer during the regular season – second best on the team after Butler – at 1.03 point-per-iso, No. 18 of the 68 players who used at least 200 such possessions this season. He performed right to that level in Game 3. He was slightly less effective in the post, but still capable against the right matchup and again he didn’t overperform his averages to an unsustainable degree. Shooting 10-of-15 on those unassisted shots will be tough to repeat. So, too, will be 11-of-13 in the paint and 4-of-8 on long mid-range twos. He’s a good-not-great mid-range shooter – the percentages fell off a cliff this year, which might not be unrelated to his thumb injury – and the more contested looks won’t always fall.
They went in in Game 3, enough to give the HEAT a 2-1 series lead on the road, and they don’t go in unless they’re taken in the first place. Next game, impact might come from his other talents – all of which were still on display with 10 rebounds, six assists, four steals and a block – first.
“I just want to win,” Lowry said. “I don't give a damn how many shots he takes. A win is a win.”
Adebayo will never be who everyone wants him to be. Nobody ever is. Every player of immense talent has been second guessed and criticized. Be that. Be this. Sometimes the critics are right, sometimes they’re wrong. Sometimes they’re both, either on purpose or by mistake. But they’ll always be there. The noise will always be there. And the noise, right or wrong in the broad strokes, is ever impatient when youth shows its promise.
“Tonight was special,” Strus said. “Just because of all the noise and all the criticism that he's been getting, for him to step up like that was huge.”
Adebayo will never be who everyone wants him to be. He’ll be whatever he makes of himself. Whatever he puts on himself. Saturday night he was willing to put himself in a position to fail when his team needed it, because that is the only way to succeed.
Who he’ll become isn’t here yet. Who he is now was a little different than who he was two days ago, and that was enough to be the difference.
Last night was just another reminder of who Adebayo has always been.
“He's a winning player,” Spoelstra said. “He really is the heart and soul of our group. You can count on him all the time. He doesn't get caught up in all the noise and everything. He's just out there competing. Playing winning basketball. Doing it on both ends and doing what is necessary.”