NBA: Adebayo Is Key To Miami’s Aspirations, Says Teammate
Miami Heat’s chances of overcoming the odds and beating favourites Denver Nuggets in the NBA Finals will hinge on big man Bam Adebayo’s success in containing dynamic centre Nikola Jokic, his teammate Jimmy Butler said.
The series shifts from high-altitude Denver to the humid beaches of Miami after the Heat pulled off a thrilling fourth quarter comeback win on Sunday to even the NBA Final series 1-1.
“Bam has been playing incredibly well this entire playoffs, for sure this series, and this one he got the toughest matchup by far on the defensive side of the ball,” Miami Heat forward Jimmy Butler told reporters.
“And on the offensive end, he’s doing everything for us. We need him to continue to be that. Like I said, he’s going to be the reason why we win a championship.”
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Adebayo said the key to guarding two-time MVP Jokic was limiting his passing, a bright spot for the Heat in Game 2 where the Serbian scored 41 points but was held to just four assists.
The Heat squeaked into the playoffs as the Eastern Conference’s eighth seed and have since been giant slayers, taking down the top-seeded Bucks, the Knicks and the Celtics with gritty team wins to reach the finals.
Adebayo offered no apologies for their gritty style.
“Everybody thinks basketball is always supposed to be pretty, it’s supposed to be fluid,” Adebayo said. “That’s not how we do it. It’s rugged, it’s in the mud, it’s nasty basketball. We don’t care how it looks. It gets wins.”
More than anything, Adebayo and the Heat are motivated by the opportunity to atone for their Finals loss to the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA bubble in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Just sitting there, seeing the confetti fall and none of this is for us,” Adebayo added. “And you walk back into the locker room. That was a gut punch.”
Game 3 of the NBA Finals is scheduled to hold on Wednesday, at the Kaseya Center in Miami, USA.
