Miami Heat’s Bam Adebayo Making His Impact Known Beyond the Stat Sheet

Adebayo made his defensive presence known against Joel Embiid.

Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra often talks about a player's impact going past statistics. 

Cenfer Bam Adebayo’s Game 5 performance is an illustration of that.

Adebayo only had 10 points against the Philadelphia 76ers, but he was key in the Heat’s defensive presence during the 120-85 win. Adebayo was tasked with guarding superstar Joel Embiid, who was held to 17 points. The scoring champion and MVP runner-up was effectively slowed down by Adebayo.

“Bam did so many things that impacted the win,” Heat coach Spoelstra said. “If you look at the stat line, people will probably think he had an average game, but that’s just absolutely winning basketball. It’s arguably the toughest cover at that position. To anchor our defense, to do multiple schemes, and to keep that competitive edge, he’s the heart and soul of our team. I just thought it was a great winning basketball game.”

Adebayo came in fourth place for the Defensive Player of the Year Award. He is showing that presence that made the Heat the No. 1 defense when he was on the court.

Embiid had previously gotten the best of Adebayo in their regular season matchups, averaging 22.9 points, 11.4 rebounds, and 2.6 assists.

The most recent chapter of this matchup was Game 3, when Adebayo finished with only nine points, with three rebounds and one assist. Adebayo spoke about the improvements that he needed to make after the disappointing loss.

“I’ve got to get my teammates easier baskets,” Adebayo said. “Adjusting my screens and getting the ball moving more. If we’re stagnant, Embiid is going to be in the paint and be as effective as possible. I’ve got to set better screens for my teammates, get bigger gaps so they can come off and either attack or hit the pocket, and we can make play plays from there.”

Adebayo was able to make those adjustments and has now helped the Heat build a 3-2 in the series. Teams that go up 3-2 in the best-of-7 series have won 85.9 percent of the time.

Jayden Armant is a contributor to Inside The Heat. He is a student at Howard University. He can be reached at jayden.armant@bison.howard.edu or follow him on Twitter @jaydenarmant.