Bam Adebayo Finally Breaks Out of Scoring Slump

Miami Heat center Bam Adebayo said he had a lot of energy coming out of the shoot around Friday morning in Indiana.

He needs to bottle the energy. Adebayo needs to save some for the remainder of the Miami Heat’s schedule.

Adebayo broke out of his scoring slump with 30 points Friday night to go along with 11 rebounds and seven assists. The Heat defeated the Indiana Pacers 124-111 Friday night at the Gainbridge Fieldhouse.

“I brought that energy into the game tonight,” Adebayo said. “It’s unnatural to see me shoot less than 50 percent any night.”

Adebayo was 10 of 17 from the field, which included two 3-point field goals in three attempts.

Adebayo said he got his motivation by watching teammate Kevin Love, who he grew up following, score 15 points in a big third quarter.

The Heat scored 37 points in the third quarter, which has been their nemesis through the first two weeks of the season.

“K Love definitely motivated me,” Adebayo said. “Year 18 and he is playing his role to the best of his ability. I grew up watching him in the finals and he is my teammate now.”

Adebayo said the team could have come into this game with their heads hanging low after their two-point loss at Detroit on Tuesday night, Instead, they came out firing.

“It really weights on you when you lose games like that,” Adebayo said. “But it’s an uphill battle and it’s a long season. We learned from our mistakes in other games. We pulled away with this one.”

Coach Erik Spoelstra was excited to see Adebayo have a big game Friday night.

“Once he got going, he did it the right way. The ball finds karma,” Spoelstra said. “The ball just found him and he rolled hard to the rim.

“This is the time you really have to enjoy watching him play.”

Scott Salomon is a contributor to Miami Heat On SI. He can be reached at sas@southfloridamedianetwork.com.

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