Adebayo 'not losing confidence' amid shooting struggles
Miami Heat big man Bam Adebayo isn't sweating his slow start on the offensive end.
"It's human nature," Adebayo said after the Heat's 108-89 loss to the Boston Celtics, according to Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel. "Everybody's not going to have a great game every game. It is what it is. For me, it's not losing confidence. It's not overthinking the game too much, because then you'll start making other mistakes.
"It's one of those things where it's just missing shots. I don't really look at it no more than that. I feel like at some point, the shot's going to turn around and it's up from there."
Adebayo recorded 15 points on 6-of-18 shooting in the defeat, along with eight rebounds and five assists.
He's averaging 15.6 points per game across 19 contests this season, his lowest double-digit output since the 2019-20 season. The three-time All-Star is shooting a career-worst 41.9% from the field and ranks 392 out of 472 players in true shooting percentage.
Even with the low shooting percentages, he still leads the team in rebounds per game (9.8) and steals (1.7), and he's tied for first in assists (4.9).
"This is one of those stretches that you know sometimes you can't explain," Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra said. "But I think the beauty of his game is he’s still able to make an impact."
The Heat rank seventh in the Eastern Conference with a 9-10 record. They host the Los Angeles Lakers on Wednesday.