Bam Adebayo Set for Wednesday Return Against Warriors
bam-adebayo-expected-back-vs-warriors
MIAMI — The Heat announced on Wednesday that center Bam Adebayo has been cleared to play against the Golden State Warriors, ending a six-game absence caused by a sprained left big toe suffered on Nov. 5.
Miami went 4-2 without its All-Star, squeezing out two-point wins over the Knicks and Cavaliers during that stretch. Adebayo re-enters the lineup averaging 22.4 points, 9.1 rebounds and 3.3 assists through seven appearances, while shooting 46.2 percent from the field, 35.6 percent from three and 86.1 percent at the foul line. His 6.4 three-point attempts per game are easily a career best; he averaged 2.8 last season and logged only 104 total tries over his first seven years.
Second-year big man Kel’el Ware filled in as the starting center, posting four straight double-doubles and putting up 15.0 points and 14.3 rebounds per contest. Head coach Erik Spoelstra opened the season with Adebayo and Ware together in the frontcourt five times, so Ware’s role is expected to remain significant. The Heat plan to monitor Adebayo’s minutes in his first game back, according to the Miami Herald.
Miami will still be shorthanded up front, with forward Nikola Jovic sidelined by a hip injury.
Golden State arrives in South Florida short-handed as well. The Warriors had already ruled out Stephen Curry (right ankle soreness), Al Horford (left toe management) and Jonathan Kuminga (bilateral patellar tendonitis), and later listed Jimmy Butler (right lower-back strain) and Draymond Green (illness) as out for Wednesday’s matchup.
Source: Hoops Rumors
