Bizarro Heat: Bam Adebayo makes the 3-pointers and Duncan Robinson delivers the assists

PHILADELPHIA – After all the 3-pointers Sunday in Detroit, including the one that made Duncan Robinson the fastest NBA player to 1,000 career conversions, the moment coach Erik Spoelstra spotlighted afterward was the pass from Robinson for a key late dunk by Bam Adebayo.

That Duncan Robinson can shoot has become a given. That Robinson can pass has opened new vistas for both the Miami Heat and Robinson in his sixth season.

“Just trying to be more of a basketball player,” Robinson said, with the Heat turning their attention to Monday night’s game against the Philadelphia 76ers at Wells Fargo Center.

Sunday, in addition to his seven 3-pointers against the Pistons, there also were five assists from Robinson, including two in the decisive fourth quarter.

In some ways, it’s almost become Bizarro Heat – Adebayo making a winning 3-pointer, as he did at Sunday’s buzzer at Little Caesars Arena, Robinson making decisive assists.

Averaging three assists this season, Robinson had not averaged more than 1.8 in his previous five seasons.

But that mostly was when he was stationed – almost anchored – at the 3-point. As the two-point attempts have increased this season, to more than twice his previous average, so, too, have the assists grown.

“When you get in the paint, a lot of times the right read just presents itself, depending on the situation,” Robinson said, with Sunday’s assist to Adebayo a perfect example. “So I’m trusting my instincts to just be a complete basketball player.”

Robinson, who turns 30 next month, said there wasn’t a specific goal of upping the assists.

“It’s been more so organically, just trying to be more of a complete player,” he said. “That just kind of tends to happen when you get a little bit more aggressive putting the ball on the ground.”

The irony is that any time Robinson previously bypassed a 3-point attempt, the staff made clear why he was on the court.

Now, there is the view of more than a specialist.

“I think the staff’s done a great job in just trusting me and allowing me to be a complete player,” he said. “And that’s kind of empowered me to explore different vistas throughout the course of the game.

“I think they just trust me a little bit more. And I’m at the point in my career where they just trust my instincts and my ability to be a basketball player and what I feel and what I read out there.”

As the roster has evolved, so, Robinson said, has his menu.

“It’s a combination of things,” he said. “Part of it is just being a little bit of a playmaker, just in the actions that I’m involved in, and not just somebody that comes in and shoots. Part of it is just reading the game, recognizing situations.”

And part of it is paying it forward, appreciating how on-time, on-target passes have benefited him over these six seasons, with a goal of easing the scoring of teammates.

“I’ve been a beneficiary of a lot of unselfish play and good passes and stuff like that,” he said. “Bam and I have a connection that we’ve been working on for a while now.”

That payoff came with the assist for the Adebayo dunk that put the Heat ahead with 5:08 to play in Sunday’s victory in Detroit.

Essentially doing for others as others have done for him,

“I appreciate a good pass, a good on-time, on-target, seams-in-line, shooter’s-pocket pass. I appreciate that,” he said amid this Heat four-game trip that concludes Wednesday night against the Cleveland Cavaliers. “So, of course you try to reciprocate that.

“Just having another person out there who can playmake, it’s just going to be a different version of me. I think that’s good for the team.”