Bam Adebayo passed Glen Rice for third place on the Heat’s all-time scoring list during his 24-point output on Friday. He trails only Dwyane Wade and Alonzo Mourning and should catch Mourning sometime this season.
“That’s really incredible. What an achievement,” coach Erik Spoelstra said, per Anthony Chiang of the Miami Herald. “I had no idea. Wow, that’s awesome. I would have mentioned something to him, even though it was kind of a buzzkill there at the end [of the loss]. But that’s just a testament to his consistency, his work ethic. He came in basically as a defensive player and he’s really honed his skills offensively to become so much more versatile. On a tough night and a tough loss, that’s one heck of an accomplishment. He’s going to keep going.”
Adebayo’s performance wasn’t enough, as the Heat lost to the Magic, 106-105.
“I can’t really put that into words, man,” Adebayo said. “I would have liked to have done it in a win, but having the opportunity to pass some of these greats. Obviously, being able to pass them and bring them back into the present day. I’m pretty sure at some point when I see Glen, he’s going to give me a big hug. That’s my guy.”
Here’s more on the Heat:
Spoelstra went back to a big starting lineup of Adebayo and Kel’el Ware but he didn’t stick with it the whole game, Chiang notes. Ware was subbed out of the game with 2:06 left in the third quarter and he was never returned. “That starting group was a little bit uneven tonight,” Spoelstra said. “We’ve got to continue to work on that. I just want to see that group, when we play bigger, just for it to be a plus. So we have some work to do there. It should be a very good defensive group, but that’s a group that hasn’t been able to defend so far, and we’ve got to continue to work at that.”
Five games after returning from ankle surgery, Tyler Herro was sidelined on Friday with toe irritation, according to Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel. He’s scheduled for an MRI today in Miami. It’s highly unlikely that the Heat front office would offer him a super-max extension but he’s now ineligible for that type of contract. With Friday marking the 18th game Herro has missed this season, he is no longer is eligible for postseason awards, a prerequisite for a super max deal.
They will face the Magic again on Tuesday, this time in the NBA Cup knockout round. Winderman explains from a scheduling standpoint why they might be better off getting bounced in the quarterfinals, noting that a win could lead to a potential 11-day journey across all four time zones.