MIAMI — The Knicks have succeeded by dominating most foes in the paint. Now they’re struggling, dominated by center Bam Adebayo.
Miami heads into Monday’s second-round Game 4 with a 2-1 series lead. And while Jimmy Butler got all the flowers for his Saturday return from injury, Adebayo’s all-around brilliance flew under the radar — though not among the Knicks he outplayed, or Heat he led to victory.
“The thing that is probably disappointing — not to our locker room or anything — is probably the average eye might not realize how dominant Bam’s game was [Saturday] to impact a win,” coach Erik Spoelstra said. “He was dominant. And the shame of it is in today’s day and age, people only view that as dominant if you score 40 points or more or have some kind of gaudy stat line.
“His fingerprints were all across that win, and there’s a way that Bam does it with his efforts, his intensity, that competitive spirit that inspires other guys to do it. You saw all the other guys contributing with these extra efforts, and that’s because when you see one of your best players doing it, your two best guys, Bam and Jimmy, then you want to join in the party. Bam has that kind of ability to inspire.”
Adebayo bounced back from a subpar performance in Game 2 by pouring in 17 points, a team-high 12 rebounds and a block in Miami’s resounding 105-86 laugher on Saturday.
Far more impressive was what he did in terms of his defense and toughness.
“He was just more physical,” Isaiah Hartenstein said.
Adebayo guarded the Knicks’ downhill perimeter players, and had his way with the centers. Hartenstein and starter Mitchell Robinson combined for just two points and eight boards, with Robinson logging just 14:13. And once he got pulled for a small-ball lineup, Adebayo was just as effective slowing Julius Randle to 4 of 15 shooting.
After having admittedly struggled in Miami’s Game 2 loss in the Garden, Adebayo — who has dealt with a nagging hamstring issue — had a huge bounce-back.
“That’s what great players do,” Spoelstra said. “The thing about it is that Bam is a young player, but he has as much playoff experience as anybody in this league. He’s contributed to a lot of playoff wins … there’s probably not a lot of 26-year-olds that have as many wins as he does in the playoffs.
“So great players, it takes time to figure out how you’re going to stack up a bunch of wins and do special things in the playoffs. Usually, that means you’ve got to do a bunch of things you typically don’t want to do. All those extra efforts and pursuits and defensive coverages, toughness, all that stuff, Bam does all those things.”
Kyle Lowry added, “I knew Bam would come out, he said he was going to be better and that’s what it is. … He’s a guy that always lives up to what he says. He’s putting a lot on the line right now. He’s playing through everything. I think he’s been fantastic, period, these whole playoffs.”