At one point during the broadcast for the Miami vs. San Antonio game, the Spurs TV announcer said, "I don't recognize this Heat team. This is not your grandfather's Heat." He was referencing the fact that Miami was high-flying to start the game and looked to turn Thursday night into a track meet.
But then the second half happened, and Miami scored just 14 points in the third quarter, reverting back to the Heat offense we all know and mildly tolerate.
And even though he is trying to showcase his range this season, Bam Adebayo shooting 13 three-point shots probably shouldn't be Plan A for the Heat this season.
Miami falls 107-101 to San Antonio
For the first time in his career, Adebayo shot more than ten three-pointers in a single game. He made four en route to 31 points and ten rebounds on the night.
In fact, Adebayo was +7 on the night, and so it's hard to pin the loss on him, especially when he was also tasked with guarding Victor Wembanyama at times.
But Adebayo taking 13 three pointers is more a byproduct of what the rest of the Heat weren't doing, and the end result was just 101 points on the night.
Given that Kel'el Ware looked like a Halloween Spirit traffic cone at times on the court, there was zero softening up Wembanyama. And so, as Miami players tried to go inside, they all looked like they had seen a ghost, and either kicked the ball back out or committed a turnover.
Even though Miami actually had two more points in the paint than San Antonio in this game, it was the lack of contact the Heat were drawing that ultimately swung the game. The Heat shot just 11 free throws, compared to the 23 the Spurs got.
The end result was that, on a night with no Norman Powell and still no Tyler Herro, Adebayo was forced to turn into a three-point shooting machine.
It's not to say Adebayo shouldn't be shooting threes. It's a point of emphasis for him this year, and he is shooting at a 36% clip.
But 36% is still just 14th in the league among centers who are attempting at least two threes per game.
So even though he is "open" on most of these attempts, 13 is a lot, and the Heat need to find better solutions to get the ball to their actual shooters and/or need guys like Ware to do their job inside to reduce the stress put on Adebayo.