MIAMI – As the Miami Heat lost to the Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday night, 126-106, it was a down performance from the highly-awaited frontcourt of Bam Adebayo and Kel'el Ware. While the Heat duo of Adebayo and Ware has been impressive so far, the team was vastly outrebounded by Cleveland which led to the veteran defending the rookie.
It would be another start for the frontcourt, but the opposing team would end up out-rebounding Miami 47-35 and even looking at points in the paint, the Cavaliers outscored the Heat, 68-38. Adebayo would be asked if there is concern with the team going with two bigs in the aftermath which led to him responding that too much “pressure” is being put on Ware who is just getting consistent minutes as a starter.
“We're still working through things, trying to figure out how we can obviously get better through these ups and downs and be more consistent,” Adebayo said. “I mean, obviously the second chance points is a big problem that we need to, we need to hone in on. But it's not just because we got two bigs out there, you think you're gonna fix a problem. You know you're trying to add pressure to a rookie that just really started getting his minutes and started to get his feet wet. So I don't really look at it in that sense, but we do collectively as a group have to get better in rebounding.”
Bam Adebayo on a possible concern going big with lineup.
“It’s not because we have two bigs out there that it’s going to fix the problem, you trying to add pressure to a rookie that’s just really starting to get his minutes, I don’t really look at it in that sense.”#HeatNation pic.twitter.com/4Mp2tIBa7p— Zachary Weinberger (@ZachWeinberger) January 30, 2025
Bam Adebayo calls Heat frontcourt a “work in progress”
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The Heat's captain Adebayo would finish with 21 points and nine rebounds while Ware had five points and four rebounds which is relatively rough compared to his past outings consisting of double-doubles. However, Adebayo kept emphasizing how it would be a “work in progress,” especially to get to the ideal spacing the team is looking for.
“I mean, it's getting great spacing,” Adebayo said. “Obviously, like I said, it's a work in progress. It's been a small sample size, so you got to work through it. You know, everybody's gonna point to that because it's like, oh, that's glaring because that's supposed to be the fix. It's gonna be ups and downs to this. So for us, it's really continuing to stay confident and it'll work.”
Still, Miami's first-round rookie has been a standout ever since Erik Spoelstra unleashed the long-requested starting duo. Though the Heat head coach would say there are “no excuses” for getting out-rebounded since now with Ware added, their frontline has increased in size.
The team is currently 23-23, seventh in the East, as they start a four-game road trip against the San Antonio Spurs on Saturday.
