NBA FINALS: HEAT VS. NUGGETS

June 3, 2023

Bam Adebayo

Miami Heat

Practice Day

Q. Bam, you said after Game 1 that you noticed how much space you had and maybe even a little surprised by it. Do you think that that was by design that the Nuggets wanted to give you room to shoot the shots that you took?

BAM ADEBAYO: I don't know. I guess you'll have to ask the Nuggets. But for me, it was just a great opportunity for me. I feel like all those shots were in my wheelhouse, and I've been shooting them all season.

Q. When you and Jimmy were running pick-and-roll, they were really loading up on Jimmy, dropping back and showing him bodies. Is there anything that you can do in those actions to try to get him going downhill a little bit more, or is that the nature of how Denver is playing it?

BAM ADEBAYO: I think it's the nature how Denver is playing it. They don't want him getting downhill and being in open space. I feel like the biggest thing when we're in pick-and-roll is for me to get him open. That's the point of the pick-and-roll, to get my guy open and let him have space.

Q. When you guys are defending the Jamal-Jokic pick-and-roll, what are you primarily trying to take away or limit defensively?

BAM ADEBAYO: Open shots. Open looks. Biggest thing for us is making both of them work in not as much space and really making them take difficult shots.

Q. Watching the film, what's the biggest thing that stuck out to you guys?

BAM ADEBAYO: We missed a lot of open shots that we usually make. I feel like that won't happen again. We had a lot of open shots that rimmed in and out usually go in.

Q. What did you make of the offensive process?

BAM ADEBAYO: Our process? We got a lot of pocket pass, open threes. Watching film, we had a lot of space to work with.

Q. You all seemed to find more of a rhythm late. Is there such a thing as what you found late, taking it into the next game, or is it stop, watch film and start over?

BAM ADEBAYO: We definitely know they are going to make adjustments. But the fourth quarter is definitely a big emphasis of ours after watching film and understanding what we did and the opportunity we had.

Q. For the non-basketball fan. How big of a deal is it to go back to Miami 1-1 versus down 2-0?

BAM ADEBAYO: I feel like we can protect home like no other. Having an opportunity to be 1-1 and then you take care of home, that's a 3-1 split, and you try to close out the series from there.