Heat’s Bam Adebayo, who ‘could barely walk,’ hopes to play in Tuesday’s key game at Detroit

After missing a crucial victory over the Mavericks on Saturday due to a hip contusion, Heat center Bam Adebayo said he hopes to get back on the court for Miami’s road game against Detroit on Tuesday.

“I expect to be on a positive note,” Adebayo said Monday. “We’re going to see how it goes, but yeah, I do think I have good intentions of playing.”

Adebayo participated in the Heat’s practice before they left for Detroit on Monday afternoon, and he said he felt better than he did in the past few days, when he had a hard time walking. He said he was “not 100 percent” but said he wants “to give the team what I’ve got.”

“I’m one of the people that tries to fight through it,” said Adebayo, who is listed as questionable. “The fact that I could barely walk was obviously a problem. The biggest thing was just getting healthy, getting my body right.”

Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said his star center had been working hard to be available for the Heat’s last four games of the regular season as they fight for their playoff position. He said he will decide what Miami’s lineup will look like after the team arrives in Detroit.

“I know how much he was pushing the last three days with his treatment, everything,” Spoelstra said. “He was trying to do everything he possibly could to be available. This was not a Hunger Games practice, but it was great to have him back out here. I’m not making any kind of decision till we get to Detroit and we figure what kind of bodies we have.”

If Adebayo cannot play or is limited, the Heat may have a suitable replacement in Cody Zeller. Miami added the veteran center in February, and he had done an admirable job coming off the bench in his first 12 games with the Heat. They asked him to start against Dallas on Saturday — Zeller’s first NBA start since May 15, 2021 — and he delivered with 20 points and eight rebounds in 29 minutes.

“He’s a winning player,” Spoelstra said, “and it was really good to see him step up and help us win without one of our most important guys.”

Zeller said he was “exhausted” after the game. His 29 minutes on the court was the most he has played since 2021. But he was glad to do whatever the team needed down the stretch.

“I wasn’t sure I was in shape enough to play that many minutes but it felt good,” Zeller said. “Good win for us. Whatever the team needs from me, whether it’s starting or backing up Bam.”

Spoelstra said the key for Zeller is keeping him healthy and in a rhythm, but he commended the 10-year veteran for how he has played with the team.

“He’s in a really good place, physically, and he had a really good connection with Jimmy [Butler] the other night,” Spoelstra said. “He brings so much on both ends of the court. He plays so hard that it is hard to play him 30 minutes. You heard him after the game, how exhausted he was, because he doesn’t leave anything in the tank, and that’s what you really respect about him.”

As the Heat close out their season, hoping to move into sixth place and avoid the play-in round, Adebayo, Zeller and the rest of the team are focused on getting the team through the season’s finish line and into the postseason.

“The most important thing right now is winning,” Adebayo said, “and I’m trying to put myself and my team in that position to win.”

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from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/6hYLwgr