The Miami Heat triumphed 121-111 over the Toronto Raptors on Friday night in the final game of the NBA Cup group stage. Bam Adebayo was one of the standout performers, recording the eighth triple-double of his career. Jimmy Butler played a significant role in helping his teammate reach that milestone, but when asked about it afterward, his response was far from straightforward.
With the game well in hand at Kaseya Center and only seconds remaining in the fourth quarter, Butler took a corner shot that missed wide of the rim. The loose ball was quickly snatched by Adebayo, who outmuscled Ochai Agbaji for his 10th rebound—completing his triple-double, which also included 14 points and 10 assists.
“I had no idea,” Butler said with a smile during the postgame press conference. “I just shoot terrible shots like that, throwing the ball straight up in the air,” he added, delivering the line with a playful tone. Given Butler’s reputation as an efficient scorer, his words were clearly meant to be ironic—especially considering he finished as the game’s leading scorer with 26 points, proving that “terrible shots” are far from his norm.
Bam Adebayo, further fueling the playful exchange, echoed his appreciation for his teammate’s gesture. “Yeah! That’s my guy!” Adebayo said, prompting laughter from those in the room. “That’s what you’re supposed to do as teammates—look out for each other.”
Way to secure that last rebound, Bam 😅
Butler praises Adebayo’s game
During the same press conference, Jimmy Butler took a moment to highlight Bam Adebayo’s invaluable contribution to the Miami Heat. “I like the fact that he’s getting everybody the ball in the position of where they can score,” Butler said, reflecting on Adebayo’s playmaking. “But more than anything, actually scoring the ball at an incredible high clip. But I don’t think that’s our problem. We gotta guard somebody on the other end, and as long as he keeps attacking and keeping everybody else involved, he’s going to get 10 assists.”
Spoelstra’s take on Adebayo
Miami head coach Erik Spoelstra also commended Adebayo’s development and performance in Friday’s win. “Bam, one of his initial gifts when he started to take on more offense responsibilities years ago was his playmaking, his ability to do triple handoffs, his ability to pass at the elbow or the top of the floor,” Spoelstra explained. “We want to take advantage of that as much as possible.”
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Spoelstra continued: “We want him to be able to put pressure on the defense, at the rim, you know, in the dotted circle, all those different areas.” And then the coach emphasized: “That probably puts a lot of stress on teams that are scouting against us when Bam gets double-digit assists, there’s a lot of different things that can happen or go wrong for your defense when he’s a playmaking mode on that, so it’ll be the balance of doing that and also keeping him aggressive.”
Miami eliminated from NBA Cup
Despite their 121-111 victory over the Toronto Raptors, the Miami Heat were eliminated from the NBA Cup. Finishing with a 2-2 record in the group stage, the Heat were edged out by the Detroit Pistons and Milwaukee Bucks, who each won three of their first four games and lead the East Group B standings. Those two teams will face each other next Tuesday to determine the final standings.
