Inside The Heat

Bam Adebayo Block In Game 1 Drawing High Praise

Miami Heat center Bam Adebayo saves the day with block on Jayson Tatum in the closing seconds of Game 1

Shandel Richardson

Shortly after the Miami Heat's victory against the Boston Celtics in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals, social media was buzzing about the final. 

Heat center Bam Adebayo blocked Jayson Tatum's dunk attempt in the closing seconds that would have forced a second overtime. NBA legend Magic Johnson went far as calling it the best defensive play he's seen in the playoffs. 

Here's a list of what others had to say about the play that put the Heat ahead 1-0 in the best-of-seven series: 

Heat guard Jimmy Butler: "That's a winning play, putting your body on the line and rotating the way that he did. We talk about it. We go through it over and over. Bam's been our savior on the end so many different times throughout the year."

Heat coach Erik Spoelstra: "Those are habits and instincts that he's willing to put himself out there. That could be a poster dunk and a lot of people aren't willing to make that play and put themselves out there. Jayson Tatum is getting to the launching pad and he just made a big-time save for us. Tatum did have an angle. It looked like he did have an open lane to the rim. Sometimes, when you have great competition like this, you just have to make plays. You can't even really explain it." 

Adebayo: "My emotions were everywhere. Everybody else around me was happy. It's one of those things it doesn't hit you until the game is over. When it happened, I was looking at the clock like, `We still got time. Let's go ahead and close it out.' We did that but after that we celebrated and we'll focus on the next game." 

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Shandel Richardson
SHANDEL RICHARDSON

Shandel has covered the NBA since 2010, with previous stops at The Athletic and South Florida Sun-Sentinel.  He has covered six NBA Finals, one Super Bowl, the NCAA basketball tournament. He has also been a beat writer for the Miami Hurricanes and contributed on every major beat in South Florida since 2003, including the Miami Dolphins and Miami Marlins. He can also be read in the Sportsbook Review for gambling coverage from around the NBA. A native of Bloomington, Illinois, Shandel attended Southern Illinois University in Carbondale. He's also worked for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and Kansas City Star.  TWITTER: @ShandelRich EMAIL: shandelrich@gmail.com You can subscribe to our YouTube channel here Follow all of our Miami Heat coverage on Facebook here

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