Star Bam Adebayo will not only miss the Miami Heat’s game against the Indiana Pacers tonight, but also the team’s road trip to Toronto on Wednesday to play the Raptors, which is devastating news for the franchise. Adebayo’s official categorization will be “day-to-day,” per the Heat’s X (formerly known as Twitter) account.
Before the Pacers game, Erik Spoelstra, the head coach of Miami, discussed the big man’s absence and its implications for the squad. He said to ClutchPoints that he is “comfortable” with the depth of centers he has behind Adebayo and that they have previously contributed quality minutes in the absence of the highlighted player.
We are confident in our front-court depth because this is not our first experience. We like that our depth will make it appear a little bit different. Every man offers something slightly different, and they’ve all demonstrated that they can influence games to help us win already, according to Spoelstra. “The game that you missed in Cleveland, you know, we had some incredible front-court play from our bigs and it may be a little bit different tonight. These guys played super small and in some of their lineups. So we just have to figure it out and just make an impact for whatever minutes they have in that spot.
However, he will carry on as usual; our goal is to tend to him now, before things become more serious,” Spoelstra stated. “He seems to keep getting hit in the same spot, which is nearly impossible to do, but whatever heals him, he will recover quickly.”
The Heat defeated Tyrese Haliburton and Indiana in a shootout, 142-132, despite Adebayo missing much of the game on Thursday. In addition to Jaime Jaquez Jr.’s season-high 24 points, Jimmy Butler would record a career-high 36 points.
