Heat have tied the season series with the Pacers at 2 games a piece.
NBA all-star Bam Adebayo and the Miami Heat come away with a bounce back victory at home against the Indiana Pacers 116-111. Miami goes into the trade deadline with a record of 30-25, and tie up the season series 2-2 with Indiana. Tyrese Haliburton was held in check with only 11 points on the night. Adebayo continued his domination with a 38 point and 9 rebound masterpiece, doing it efficiently with 12/16 shooting and 14/14 from the free throw line.
#HEATWin final – Miami 116, Indiana 111
Adebayo: 38pts (12-16 FGM), 9rebs & 3asts
Butler: 25pts, 7asts & 5rebs
Vincent: 17pts, 4rebs & 3asts
Herro: 15pts, 6rebs & 3asts
Martin: 12pts, 11rebs, 4stls & 3asts pic.twitter.com/1PhbsnKl6P— Miami HEAT (@MiamiHEAT) February 9, 2023
To start this recap with the player of the game, Adebayo proved once again why he is an all-nba talent in this league. He was truly in his bag and got to his wheel house with those comfortable mid range pull ups. The improvement in his outside jumper has been extremely noticeable as he has grown into a legitimate threat from those elbow jump shots. It’s great to see the hard work in the off-season pay off for Adebayo in that regard.
Bam is just dominating in these high isos
Jumper after jumper
Now gets Turner in the air
— Brady Hawk (@BradyHawk305) February 9, 2023
This Bam jumper is just so money
Not even hitting rim tonight
— Brady Hawk (@BradyHawk305) February 9, 2023
This was Bam’s 10th 30 point game of the season, already 5 more than last season with a few games left to go before the all-star break. He has been a force to be reckoned with, and the work he puts in has been justified with the clear leaps in his game.
Bam Adebayo is the first Heat player with at least 10 30-point games in a regular season since LeBron James had 31 such games in 2013-14.
— Tim Reynolds (@ByTimReynolds) February 9, 2023
All of the Bam jumpers (and other buckets) in all of their glory pic.twitter.com/m1e9gC3lzj
— Miami HEAT (@MiamiHEAT) February 9, 2023
Jimmy Butler was the second leading scorer tonight with 25 points. He took the game over in the 3rd quarter and provided a much needed boost to the team. Butler was doing the dirty work inside the paint, as he hit back to back and 1 lay ups in that quarter. It was able to ignite a solid closing effort from the squad. He also showed his all around talent by pitching in 7 assists and 5 boards.
Needed that 3rd quarter takeover from Jimmy pic.twitter.com/prB5uviVLS
— Miami HEAT (@MiamiHEAT) February 9, 2023
The rest of the starting 5 tonight all had big contributions as well. Tyler Herro struggled slightly with his shooting but just like he’s done all season he made up for it in other ways. He snagged 6 boards, dished 3 assists and provided solid one on one defense. Caleb Martin was a menace in the passing lanes, as the starting PF notched 4 steals to go along with a 12 point, 11 rebound double double.
Martin continues his good shooting numbers as of late, and to see him being aggressive on defense like that is always encouraging. He put his imprint’s all over this game and was an x-factor type of player, just like how he has been the last 5 games or so. However, it was Gabe Vincent who filled it up offensively and jump started this team right out of the gate.
Gabe kept the offense steady at the point pic.twitter.com/pHLS7rDXhc
— Miami HEAT (@MiamiHEAT) February 9, 2023
Vincent continues to look like a starting caliber NBA point guard, filling in for Kyle Lowry.
Speaking of Lowry, Jimmy Butler addressed the trade rumors that Lowry has been in with less than 24 hours away from the trade deadline. Lowry is a player that reportedly numerous teams have called the Heat about. His consistent struggles have been disappointing all season long, but it seemed like Butler had his friends back.
Jimmy Butler on Kyle Lowry’s trade rumors:
“That’s my guy and I love him to death. I don’t know what’s going to happen.”
“I want to play with Kyle, but so much is out of my control.”
“Whatever happens, happens. But that’s still gonna be my dawg.”
— Brady Hawk (@BradyHawk305) February 9, 2023
We’ll see what happens, but regardless it was a great win and much needed bounce back performance after dropping 2 straight that the Heat could’ve won on the road. For now the focus shifts to tomorrow’s deadline.
Moves or no moves, Miami is set to play the Houston Rockets inside Miami-Dade Arena on Friday at 8:00 PM ET.