Heat's Bam Adebayo has 'personal' message to Darius Garland amid Tyler Herro shot
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MIAMI – With the back-and-forth between Miami Heat star Tyler Herro and the Cleveland Cavaliers’ Darius Garland, there’s no doubt an immense amount of excitement ahead of the rest of the first-round playoff series. Ahead of the Heat preparing for Game 3 against the Cavs, Bam Adebayo would give his thoughts on the comments made by Garland about his long-time teammate.
After Cleveland took a 2-0 series lead over Miami on Wednesday, Garland would be asked about the team’s game plan on offense, where he would mention it’s to “pick on” Herro. Adebayo would say after Friday’s practice that the comments made are why he has “love about the playoffs” because of the competitiveness and that the team takes it “personally.”
"Yeah, cause you can't hide. That's what I love about the playoffs," Adebayo said. "Obviously, (Garland) said what he said. We all take that personally. Not only just Tyler, we all take that personally. We got a game tomorrow at one, early in the morning, get some sleep tonight, and then we get it cracking in the morning."
Herro would downplay the comments made by Garland, even going as far as to express that it “says a lot about him” and especially saying he doesn’t play defense. Adebayo would speak about the respect he has for Herro in having “thick skin,” mentioning how Pat Riley called him “fragile” after an injury-riddled last season.
"I already have respect for Tyler Herro. He walked in like, 'I'm a bucket' with that swagger. You've seen what he's progressed to now. The media throwing his name in the mud. 'He's fragile.' Even our president has went at him before. It's definitely made him tougher, thick skin."
Heat’s Bam Adebayo on the losing record at home
As the Heat look to bounce back from a 0-2 series deficit, the team returns home for Game 3 with the opportunity to use home court to their advantage. However, this season hasn’t been glorious for Miami in regards to their success at home as they went 19-22 in the Kaseya Center, the first time the team has a below .500 record on their floor since the 2018-19 season.
Adebayo would speak on the possible reasons this was the case and even subtly mentioned the drama with Jimmy Butler being a factor.
"I can go down the list of a bunch of s*** for real," Adebayo said. "You got [the Andrew Wiggins trade]. We went through that whole [Jimmy Butler trade] ordeal. We just couldn't figure it out, it wasn't like we were blown out at home, we would lose by one or two points, game-winners. The losing streak didn't help."
Despite the disappointment at home, the team could change the narrative with the most important game of the season thus far up on deck.
“Yeah, we’re looking forward to it, you know, we want to get back out there,” Miami head coach Erik Spoelstra said to ClutchPoints. “Could have played today, we would have been good with that, too. You know, you don’t feel good about, you know, the result of the last two games. So we have a chance to change that tomorrow, one o’clock.”
Asked Erik Spoelstra on being down 0-2 and if that comes with an amplified energy, especially during meaningful basketball.
"We want to get back out there, could've played today, we would've been good with that…" #HeatNationpic.twitter.com/0ZWdE4PWLv
— Zachary Weinberger (@ZachWeinberger) April 25, 2025
Nevertheless, the Heat look to avoid a 0-3 series deficit with Game 3 on Saturday afternoon.
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