Miami Heat's Bam Adebayo Hitting Groove At The Right Time Of The Season

Miami Heat center Bam Adebayo is hitting stride at the perfect time.

He had 23 points and 14 rebounds in Wednesday's victory against the Philadelphia 76ers. It helped the Heat enter the NBA All-Star break on a two-game winning streak. They've also won six of the last eight.

With the Heat playing without Jimmy Butler, Terry Rozier and Josh Richardson, Adebayo was once again the focal point of the offense. He took 14 shots for a second straight game.

"Coach just decided to throw me the ball," Adebayo said. "It worked out for me. He trusted me to lead the team and I did that."

Adebayo, who will play in his third All-Star game Sunday, is averaging 18.4 points and 11.4 rebounds the last seven games. The increase in production has helped the Heat offset the injuries while also keeping them in the Eastern Conference playoff race.

They are the No. 7 seed but only three games behind the fourth-place New York Knicks.

“You always want to go into the All-Star break on a good note,” Adebayo said. “To get two signature wins like that, it shows that if we believe we can do it, we can get stuff done. Even if we don’t have a lot of guys.”

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Shandel Richardson covers the Miami Heat for Inside The Heat, a Fan Nation channel for Sports Illustrated. He has covered the NBA since 2010.

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