The Heat’s Erik Spoelstra reveals what makes Bam Adebayo and Kel’el Ware a good matchup

MIAMI – Like The drama between the Miami Heat and Jimmy Butler continues Amidst his comeback, another story emerged that took center stage during the team’s 128-107 win over the San Antonio Spurs on Sunday. The The Heat finally introduced Bama Adebayo and Kel’el Ware together on the field for an extended period in what was a long-awaited sight as a head coach Erik Spoelstra talked about the decision.

Miami got off to a slow start against San Antonio, but things started to turn around when Spoelstra decided to put Adebayo and Ware together on the floor, as what happened was a 14-2 run and eventually a 36-13 run that put the team far ahead of the opponent. Ware even led the team with 25 points on 10-for-19 shooting from the field to go with eight rebounds and two blocks, while Spoelstra told ClutchPoints that both were career-bests. “initial spark” this led to the team finding its winning way.

“That was definitely the initial spark in the game,” Spoelstra said. “You know, they were just great defensively. That ignited the energy for the group, and then we were able to get over something, and then, you know, our offense obviously started to flow from there. You know, this old coach is trying to get the team to connect the dots. Usually, when we defend, we play with that energy. Our basket is getting bigger. You know, our offense hasn’t been where we’ve wanted it to be all year.”

Heat, Erik Spoelstra on Kel’el Ware’s development

Conversation about Ware and Adebayo played together as the rookie was drafted with the 15th overall pick in the last NBA draft where the latter would move to the power forward position instead of being the center he has been for years. The Heat captain would scored six points in the game, but also had 11 rebounds and five assists, while Spoelstra talked more about how dynamic both are and how Ware is getting the team’s attention.

“They were dynamic,” Spoelstra said. “This is something we have slowly started working on.” I know Kel’el creates a lot of opinions out there, you know, let us do our job. Let him do what he was doing. You know, the initial thing was for him to develop, to get him comfortable in a role where he could really impact the game.”

“And the second unit is coming. “That’s been one of our bright spots the last few weeks, and he’s really comfortable in that role, and what he’s done with his play and his ability to impact the game earns more,” Spoelstra continued. “And that’s what you see. That’s what you want all the players you know to do, earn more. Make us watch you, make us play you, make us think about not playing you, make us keep figuring out other things and just keep you on the field. And that’s what he’s doing right now.”

Heat Kel’el Ware awaits Bam Adebayo pairing

Ware would even start the second half alongside Adebayo and continue his dominance as Miami scored 46 points in the third period and then went on to a franchise-record 82 points in the second half. The likes of Duncan Robinson and Tyler Hero benefited from the bigger lineup as their shooting percentage rose dramatically for the team, each scoring 11 in the third quarter.

The Heat’s first-round pick would speak to its exit and as he waited along with Adebayo for the opportunity to play together.

“It was exciting,” Ware said. “You know, me and Bam, you know, we wanted it to happen. And, you know, just to make that happen, we’ve, you know, made the best of it for the first time. So, you know, we show people a little bit of what it looked like.”

Bam Adebayo on the second layer that the Heat unlocked with Kel’el Ware

As Spoelstra mentioned, playing both Adebayo and Ware has been a chore all season, and both have played in late-quarter situations recently. It was the first time there were extended minutes between the two as Adebayo spoke after the game about how Spoelstra finally “trusted the process.”

“It just gives us another dynamic to our team,” Adebayo said. “And finally, Spo (Spoelstra) believed in the process, I guess, but it’s one of those things where he finally committed to it, it worked, and now I feel like there’s going to be some movement forward.” You know, could get a couple of DPOIs out of this thing, a couple of All-Defensive teams out of my young guy. So the biggest thing for us is just to enjoy this win, but realize that we still have to keep going, to lead each other and to stay together.

It remains to be seen whether the Adebayo-Ware pairing will continue, as some could argue that it was to some extent to contain the size of Spurs sensation Victor Wembanyama. On the other hand, it has led to an offensive resurgence unlike anything the team has seen this season in a very unique lineup, as the Heat are now 21-20 as they next face the Portland Trail Blazers on Tuesday.