For Heat's Bam Adebayo, misery amid losing, 'fighting through whatever I got to fight through'

Ira Winderman, South Florida Sun-Sentinel on Dec 25, 2025

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MIAMI — Heat coach Erik Spoelstra long has stressed a focus on where the focus should not be on evaluating a player’s performance, namely not the last line in the box score, namely not the points column.

Exhibit A often has been team captain Bam Adebayo, with the ball movement, rebounding, defense of the Heat center transcending solely scoring.

But there are times when points matter, because when it comes to the final score, they’re the only thing that matters.

So too hard not to ignore are these scoring lines from Adebayo over the past three weeks:

— Dec. 6: 4 of 9 FG, 0 for 3 3FG, 9 points. As in the home loss to the Kings.

— Dec. 18: 4 of 13 FG, 0 for 2 3FG, 8 points. As in the road win over the Nets.

— Dec. 23: 4 of 11 FG, 0 for 3 3FG, 9 points. As in Tuesday night’s home loss to the Raptors.

Only four times this season has Adebayo been limited to single-digit scoring, with the only time before the aforementioned three in December being when he scored two points in the Nov. 5 loss in Denver, when he left eight minutes into the game with the toe sprain that would have him out for six games.

So, yes, the lack of offensive input has been hard to overlook.

“It sucks,” Adebayo said of being unable to contribute more on the offensive end amid a slide that has seen the Heat drop eight of their past nine. “But it’s part of the NBA. It’s a long season. So fighting through whatever I got to fight through, figure out how I can impact winning and do that. Instead of focusing on shots not falling, just play basketball. The shots will eventually start falling.”

While not an excuse, the base offense installed this season, the one stressing ball movement and eliminating screens and handoffs, eliminated many of the levers that had boosted Adebayo’s offense.

To that end, a compromise might be at hand, with the Heat resuming their post-Christmas schedule Friday night at State Farm Arena against the Atlanta Hawks, before a Saturday home game against the Indiana Pacers.

“We’re working on so many things and I have to be better for him,” Spoelstra said. “But his heart’s in the right place. He wants to help the team however he can. He’s a great competitor.

“This kind of stretch of the season weighs on him like it would weigh on a coach. He carries it. Right now, we can figure all that stuff out. I just have to figure out how to collectively come together and get a win and then do it again, and then rinse and repeat.”

Adebayo’s current .466 field-goal percentage would be the worst of his nine-year career, his .525 effective-field-goal percentage his worst since his 2017-18 rookie season and his .560 true shooting percentage also the lowest of his career.

“Shots not falling,” said Adebayo, with his 18.0 scoring average his lowest in six seasons. “I mean that’s the way it is. I’m getting to my spots and figuring out how I can get a couple more touches throughout the flow of the offense.”

For now, the encouragement is ongoing, with teammates appreciative of how dribble handoffs and other previous Heat staples could get their captain going again.

“I’ve been in his ear,” guard Norman Powell said. “I’ve been very vocal in talking to him and trying to find his spots, pick his spots, get him in that little 17- and 15-foot range, where he can get to his middie or into his iso rip-and-goes, out of the DHO’s and the mid pick-and-rolls, have him play in that pocket.

“Kind of hopefully as the more and more we do that, the more he’ll be able to make those reads and get back to his game. But I definitely think we need that for him, just to get some touches, and feel his way into the offense.”