LOS ANGELES — The question of whether the 2025-26 Miami Heat are for real took a step back Thursday night with the 107-101 loss to the San Antonio Spurs that dropped the record to 3-2.
Proven undeniably real in the loss at the start of this four-game western swing is that the Bam Adebayo 3-pointer is more than a novelty act and likely to remain a significant component of drive-kick, pace-space offense installed by coach Erik Spoelstra.
When the presence of 7-foot-5 Spurs center Victor Wembanyama made play in the paint perilous, Adebayo took his game to the perimeter on a 4-of-13 night from beyond the 3-point arc.
No, the percentage hardly was optimal.
But the threat remains real.
As a matter of perspective on the evolving 3-point game of the Heat big man, there were only eight 3-point conversions over his first six seasons. In his seventh, in 2023-24, there were 15. Last season, there were 79. Now, through five games, there have been 13, including tying his single-game high with Thursday’s four.
“Like I said back in the day, people used to get mad that I didn’t shoot the ball,” Adebayo said, with the Heat next moving on to Sunday night’s game against the Los Angeles Lakers. “So, working on my game, trusting my shot.
“All my teammates believe. They’ve been working out with me, they see that I can get hot. Just keep moving from there.”
There has been no trepidation from Spoelstra.
“Bam is growing his game every single year, and that’s another aspect that’s been happening now for a year and a half,” Spoelstra said, “And that will help us. It is helping our attacks and ability to get into the paint for other guys. When you can kick out to him, it also gives him an opportunity to put the ball on the floor versus closeouts.”
Exactly, said Adebayo, who launched an atypical 27 overall shots in the loss at Frost Bank Center, with the Heat without sidelined Norman Powell and Tyler Herro.
“A hundred percent,” Adebayo said. “That’s the goal to be a three-level scorer in this league. That’s hard to guard when you can shoot threes, get in the paint. But also if they dare you to make a middie, you can make one.”
And it became such a risk-reward game for Wembanyama, with Adebayo seizing just such a closeout challenge at the left corner for a Thursday dunk late in the second quarter that drew gasps even from the San Antonio crowd, with Adebayo, at 6-9 yielding eight inches in the matchup.
BAM BOOMS HOME THE SLAM
Watch on NBA League Pass: https://t.co/CflIHFZUX9 pic.twitter.com/FfhikJQemy
— NBA (@NBA) October 31, 2025
“Getting dunked on is a part of the game,” Wembanyama said with a laugh afterward. “Until I’m getting dunked on more than I block shots, I’m going to keep going. None of us is going to live to (that) day.”
Adebayo closed the loss with 31 points, 10 rebounds and three assists, with the Heat’s best plus/minus on the night, at a plus seven. Wembanyama finished with 27 points, a season-high 18 rebounds, six assists and five blocked shots.
“He was very good,” Spoelstra said of Adebayo. “That was a great matchup between him and Wemby tonight, if you’re a basketball fan.”
Adebayo said the challenge was as it appeared.
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No picks, no rolls, no handoffs, just Bam Adebayo and the Heat reinventing themselves
“Obviously, you can see how high his release is,” Adebayo said. “But the thing is making him take uncomfortable shots, getting him out of his rhythm. Like I said, doing that as a collective unit. It wasn’t just me guarding him. Andrew Wiggins had some great fly-bys.”
As for the offensive end, teammates said the more spacing and draining Adebayo can accomplish from beyond the arc will further fuel the attack.
To newcomer Simone Fontecchio, who shot 5 of 7 on 3-pointers against the Spurs, Adebayo’s spacing balance made his job simpler.
“It’s definitely easier when you’ve got a player like Bam,” Fontecchio said. “Whatever he does on the court, like shooting, penetrating, post-ups, everything, just makes it easier for everybody else.”
