After the Miami Heat started the regular season 0-4, the team ended up scoring their first win of the season after Wednesday night's 129-117 win over the Atlanta Hawks, which featured a much-needed productive outing from Bam Adebayo. Aside from the Heat captain capturing the franchise's all-time rebound record from mentor Udonis Haslem, he had his best game of the season due to a key adjustment from the team.
As Adebayo was averaging under 12 points per game through the first two games, he came back Wednesday by tying for the team's lead with Giannis Antetokounmpo with 24 points on eight of 16 shooting from the field. To go along with nine rebounds, three assists, and three steals, he was the beneficiary of Miami running way more pick-and-rolls on Wednesday.
The team ran 57 pick-and-rolls, which was 10 more than what was a season high last season.
“We ain’t ran pick-and-roll in a long time,” Adebayo said, posted to X, formerly Twitter, by The Heat Central. “My first two or three shots not being threes, I was able to get in a rhythm by getting to the free-throw line, being aggressive, and getting to my spots. The ball went in today.”
Bam Adebayo on how adding P&Rs to the offense got him going:
“We ain’t ran a P&R in a long time. My first 2/3 shots not being 3s I was able to get in a rhythm by getting to the FT line, being aggressive and getting to my spots. The ball went in today.
Also credits Davion and… pic.twitter.com/OkUEPrzQIn
— Heat Central (@TheHeatCentral) October 29, 2026
What helped Adebayo was Davion Micthell and Pelle Larsson, who were the other part of the pick-and-rolls with the captain and Antetokounmpo, as they recorded 10 and eight assists, respectively.
The Heat look to execute “offensive principles”
Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra stressed that the team “wanted to be a little bit more intentional,” as he highlighted the team being slow in the prior losses, according to The Miami Herald. While Miami wants to play fast, in the times when the game gets “neutral,” using pick-and-rolls effectively could be the key.
Article Continues BelowAntetokounmpo echoed the same sentiments as the Heat's “offensive principles.”
“Guys have to look for space, go downhill, move when somebody drives, but at the end of the day when the game slows down, you have to set some pick-and-rolls,” Antetokounmpo said.
Miami looks to string together more wins as the next game is on Friday night against the Indiana Pacers in NBA Cup group play.

