Miami Heat fans had one main culprit for their Wednesday night loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers: Bam Adebayo.
Adebayo neared a triple-double with 11 points, 14 rebounds, and nine assists. However, he shot 20 percent from 3-point range and attempted just two field goals in the final period. Plus, scoring just 11 points seems underwhelming when his co-star Tyler Herro dropped 33 in Game 2.
We got Dan Adebayo tonight 💔 pic.twitter.com/lAv5YoKa6y
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Heat fans also criticized Erik Spoelstra for leaving Nikola Jovic on the floor to close instead of Kel’el Ware. Jovic missed the last month due to injury and recorded just four points (0-of-4 shooting from 3-point range) with two turnovers.
Ware Only 19 minutes, 0 in the 4th. Closes with Jovic lolz Spo is cooked pic.twitter.com/q9LGoNqtLS
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The Heat cut Cleveland’s fourth-quarter lead multiple times, but couldn’t clinch the victory. There was at least some praise for Herro, Davion Mitchell, and Haywood Highsmith, who combined for 68 points on 52.3 percent shooting from the arc.
Everyone other than herro, Mitchell, and highsmith was non existent
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Herro knows the stakes and expressed the urgency for a victory in Game 3 at Kaseya Center Saturday afternoon.
“It’s a must-win for us,” Herro said in the postgame interview. “Dropping two in Cleveland, our backs are against the wall a little bit. It should bring the best out of us.”
Jayden Armant is a graduate of the Howard University School of Communications and a contributor to Miami Heat on SI. He can be reached at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter @jaydenarmant.
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