Center Bam Adebayo delivered a lot on the court Thursday to join star Jimmy Butler in a 115-110 victory for his Miami Heat over the Los Angeles Clippers in the NBA.
Center Adebayo had 31 points and 10 rebounds, while Butler had 26 points to get the Miami team back on track to victory.
Adebayo shot 14 of 21 from the field and contributed four assists, while Butler, a six-time NBA All-Star, added eight rebounds, five assists and four steals while scoring his team’s final eight points.
"We gave the ball to Jimmy"Adebayo said. "He’s our closer, so we let him do his thing down the stretch.".
Adebayo, a 25-year-old center and member of the team that won the gold medal at the United States Olympic Games last year, was one of the main reasons Miami outscored the Clippers in the paint 58-32.
"Teammates want me to be effective "Adebayo said. "They want me to find my shots. The best I can do is keep shooting".
Miami Heat snapped a two-game losing streak and improved to 12-14 overall, 10th in the Eastern Conference.
"trying to get out of a hole"Adebayo pointed out. "The most important thing is that we are connected, united and keep trying. We wake up and try to find solutions every day".
For his part, the stellar Paul George led the Clippers with 29 points, eight rebounds and seven assists, but could not prevent the Los Angeles team from remaining with a record of 14-13, ninth in the Western Conference.
In a matchup of the two worst teams in the Western Conference, Keldon Johnson scored a game-high 32 points to lead the host San Antonio Spurs over the Houston Rockets 118-109.
In Portland, the Denver Nuggets beat the Trail Blazers 121-120 with 33 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists from Serbian Nikola Jockic.
For the Portland quintet, its star Damian Lillard showed off with a whopping 40 goals.