The Miami Heat Hope Bam Adebayo Can Build On Strong Ending To Postseason

Adebayo was critical in Game 7 against the Boston Celtics.

 The main story regarding the Miami Heat during the postseason were the heroics of Jimmy Butler.

But Bam Adebayo is not being talked about enough.

Even though Miami was eliminated, it was not because of a lack of effort from Adebayo. The Heat center had 25 points, 11 rebounds and four assists in the Game 7 loss. The narrative going into this game was that Adebayo needed to be aggressive on the offensive end. He and Butler combined for 62.5 percent of the Heat’s points and joined Kyle Lowry as the Heat's players to score in double-figures. 

Everybody knew Butler was going to have a superstar performance, but the biggest question mark was how the players around him performed. The Heat’s bench only contributed 13 points. 

Adebayo established himself as Miami’s No. 2 player in this matchup, which is the effort that most people wanted out of him throughout the postseason.

Coach Erik Spoelstra praised Adebayo’s efforts.

“I thought Bam's assertiveness was vital,” Spoelstra said. “It was really important for us to put some pressure on the rim and create some opportunities out of nothing, not out of a play call but just driving and making some plays. That's definitely something he'll be able to build on. He has reinvented himself every offseason. Every year in the last three or four years, he should have been considered the most improved player.”

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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.