Miami Heat big man Bam Adebayo hopes their play-off series with the Boston Celtics turns into a “cage fight”.
The Heat went into last night’s Game Two as heavy underdogs following their 20-point Game One defeat but levelled the series in remarkable fashion, a new carefree shooting approach resulting in 23 three-pointers en route to a 111-101 win.
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Adebayo was one of their star performers with 21 points and he is relishing the chance to cause an upset.
He said: “We’ve been doubted a lot through our play-off runs, people saying we couldn’t do a lot of stuff that we [eventually] did.
“So for me and my team, why lose belief now? Our backs are against the wall. Everybody’s against us. So just use that as fuel.
“Our guys believe we can win. So, let’s make it mano a mano – a cage fight. Let’s hoop.”
Tyler Herro was also instrumental with six three-pointers as part of a 24-point, 14-assist evening.
Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said: “Based on how we look right now [in terms of injuries], he’s going to be involved one way or another, and sometimes that’s going to mean making the right play over and over and over again. And he made the right read repeatedly tonight.”
The Heat’s approach clearly caught out their opponents and Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla admitted it gives him a headache for the rest of the series, which continues in Miami on Saturday.
Mazzulla said: “We’re going to have to find a balance, because a lot of those [Heat] shooters are also good drivers and are good at getting downhill.
“We have to find that balance of making sure we can close out appropriately so we don’t open up the other side of that.”
