Miami Heat: Missing Bam Adebayo doesn’t just mean missing Bam’s production

The Miami Heat will look to get their first victory of the NBA Finals on Sunday. They haven’t shot the ball well though and that starts with Duncan Robinson.

The Miami Heat are right back at it on Sunday evening. After two tough defeats at the hands of LeBron James, Anthony Davis, and the Los Angeles Lakers, they will take the court again Sunday in hopes of their elusive first victory of the series.

While a ton has gone into the Miami Heat being down 0-2 in this series, including injuries, lackadaisical effort, and poor defense, none of them have been as important as any other. There is one thing that fits that bill of being more urgent than any other though.

All season long, what has helped the Miami Heat separate themselves from the rest of the league has been their shooting from the outside. This series has seen them shoot their poorest.

While the percentages and made shots may say one thing and while I can’t be sure that they even do, when the Miami Heat have needed a big shot thus far against the Lakers, they haven’t been able to convert it. That’s in stark contrast to the rest of the season, their time in the bubble, and the playoffs thus far up until this point.

The Miami Heat have really missed Bam Adebayo, but for more reasons than you might think.

Even when Jae Crowder’s shot was off during the last series, he still came through and hit a big one in the clinching game. Goran Dragic could have missed every deep shot he had taken on a given night, but when the Miami Heat needed it the most, it seems like he could hit a 35-foot rainbow three over a guy if they needed it.

The Miami Heat simply haven’t been shooting the ball well. That starts with Duncan Robinson.

Yes, the same Duncan Robinson who has been one of, if not the very best, shooters in the entire league this season. He has shot 2-10 from deep during this series, yes, only 20 percent.

I don’t know what’s more concerning, that, or the fact that he’s only taken 10 of them. In any event, that’s where Bam Adebayo comes in.

Without Bam in the lineup, of course, you notice his production not being there in itself. What we don’t talk about enough is what kind of impact or how he makes things easy on the rest of our players, shooters, and especially for Duncan Robinson.

Robinson and Bam have perfected the dribble handoff action. It’s how Duncan gets a lot of his open looks.

What this means is a few things. Most importantly and urgently right now, we need Bam Adebayo to get back in the lineup. Pronto.

Secondly, it means that they have to scheme up other ways, now or moving forward in his development, to get Duncan good looks and the ball in his shooting pocket. Some guys can only hit the way they can hit, but Duncan is elite, so he just needs more practice.

A shooting stroke that pure can learn anything. I promise.

So, again, while we miss Bam for what he can do for us himself as a player and an individual, we really should miss him for what he is able to do for everyone else. Because missing Bam Adebayo doesn’t just mean missing Bam’s production, and Duncan Robinson is living proof of that fact.