Getty Bam Adebayo #13 and Kyle Lowry #7 of the Miami Heat.
The Miami Heat were able to get themselves back into the win column on January 18 with a 124-98 victory over the New Orleans Pelicans. Miami led wire-to-wire, putting on an impressive display with their full starting lineup finally healthy.
Starting center Bam Adebayo led the way for the Heat. He scored 26 points, grabbed 8 rebounds, and tallied two steals in the blowout win. Adebayo was efficient as well, making 11 of his 15 attempts from the field, and 4 of his 6 free throws.
His teammate Kyle Lowry had some high praise for him after the game, saying he believes the big man should be an All-Star.
“Bam’s playing his a– off, he’ll be an All-Star this year, he should be an All-Star this year,” Lowry said. “His production has been unbelievable in that range of 4-13 feet, he’s been unbelievable, just not missing shots in there.”
“We came out and played extremely hard…we’ve got a talented group.”
Kyle Lowry speaks after a HEAT victory in New Orleans to move 4 games above .500 and into 6th place in the East
Adebayo has been piecing together what very well could be the best season of his career.
He’s appeared in 41 of the team’s 46 games, playing 35.1 minutes each time. Adebayo is averaging career-high’s in both points per game, at 21.5, and rebounds per game at 10.1 while shooting 54% from the field.
Despite his career-season, Adebayo hasn’t been getting much respect or love around the league. For example, his name did not appear amongst the top-10 of Eastern Conference frontcourt players in the All-Star fan voting returns.
LeBron James and Giannis Antetokounmpo lead their respective conferences in the third fan returns of #NBAAllStar Voting presented by AT&T.
Fans account for 50% of the vote to decide All-Star starters. NBA players and a media panel account for 25% each.
Heat Fans Furious Over Latest Bam Adebayo Slander
Adebayo hasn’t been getting the recognition he deserves from All-Star voters for sure. He also was the victim of some blatant disrespect on the January 17 edition of the Dunc’d On Prime podcast with host Duncan Smith guest John Hollinger of the Athletic.
The two went back and forth after Hollinger said that Myles Turner of the Indiana Pacers was a better player than Adebayo.
“What is Bam’s case for being on the (All-Star) team ahead of Myles Turner?” He asked Smith.
“This year with a Myles Turner who’s actually aggressive and actually shoots, I think there’s a real case,” Hollinger pitched. “He’s been more durable, he’s been an elite rim-protector, he spaces the floor, which Bam doesn’t give you.”
Smith then pushed back a bit arguing that Adebayo is better on both ends of the floor.“Bam has been a guy that’s been very good at times in the playoffs, we haven’t seen that from Turner, he argued. “I just think they’re in the same class of player personally.”
Hollinger fired back, “So what, because Bam can iso for 15-foot twos, that gives him a leg up?” he asked. “I don’t think he’s had that great of a year, personally.”
The argument was later shared to the Miami Heat subreddit, where commenters were far from thrilled about Hollinger’s take.
One Redditor replied “This now 3 straight years of Hollinger hating on Heat players.”
Another chimed in, “What an idiot, Bam has been better than Turner in every facet this year and for the last 3 years. The Heat are also currently literally sitting with a better record than the Pacers even if not by much.”
Like Adebayo, Turner is having a career year. He’s appeared in 36 of the Indiana’s 45 games, playing 30 minutes each time. The seven-year veteran is averaging career-high’s in both points per game, at 17.4, and rebounds per game at 7.9, while shooting 55.6% from the field and 39% from beyond the arc.
Heat Add Kyle Lowry Back to Lineup Against Pelicans
Lowry returned to the lineup for the first time in four games in Miami’s win over the Pelicans. The six-time All-Star played 22 minutes in his first game back, scoring 7 points, grabbing 8 rebounds, and dishing 4 assists for the Heat.
Lowry had previously been sidelined due to discomfort in his left knee.
Head Coach Erik Spoelstra was pumped to have Lowry back on the floor.
“He was a big contributor of setting the tone on both ends,” he explained. “Right out of the gate, you want to set the tone for the game on the road. He had that early steal on the post up, and a couple of other physical defensive possessions, and he had two early attacks before the defense was set. And that just kind of set the tone for everybody else to do something similar.”