MIAMI — Even as the shots weren’t falling, Bam Adebayo refused to sit down. Eventually, pride gave way to reality.

So, yes, the Heat captain was playing through pain amid the slump that preceded Adebayo finally stepping aside and sitting out the past two games with what the team has been listing as lower-back pain.

The good news? Adebayo was upgraded to probable for Monday night’s game against the Denver Nuggets at Kaseya Center.

“I mean for a while now, it just finally got to a point where I had to sit down and rest,” the Heat big man said in the wake of watching Saturday night’s 142-116 victory over the visiting Indiana Pacers in street clothes. “That’s really, really what it was. It was one of those nagging injuries. I finally had to sit down.”

For weeks prior to sitting, the struggles were real, Adebayo three times limited to single-digit scoring in the seven games prior to sitting.

“It wasn’t always the back, it just crept up to the back,” he said.

It was Adebayo’s second absence of the season, after missing six games in November due to a toe sprain.

The Heat went 4-2 during that first absence, this time 2-0 during this time out of uniform.

“We like to walk out of this locker room with a smile on our face, with that personality going, and really feeling that joy back,” Adebayo said, with the victories in the back-to-back Friday-Saturday set over the Atlanta Hawks and Pacers coming after a run of eight losses in nine games. “So I’m happy for the team, obviously, being able to just communicate, being in the huddles and be part of the success.”

To that end, Adebayo was with the team Friday night in Atlanta, an active presence while inactive on the bench on Saturday night.

“He flew to Atlanta with us, with that kind of intention,” coach Erik Spoelstra said of Adebayo wanting to play through. “But he clearly was not moving well enough to compete in that kind of game.

“But he’s definitely making progress. He really needed this time just to get … he was dealing with some (things) because of overcompensation. I think he’s feeling a lot better each day.”

Adebayo said he has dealt with and played through similar discomfort before.

“As far as nagging injuries, yeah. But it’s the NBA, guys always try to play through pain,” he said. “And when they can’t, sit down and rest.”

This latest Adebayo absence coincides with the latest absence of Tyler Herro, who has missed the past nine games with a toe contusion and again is listed as out for Monday night.

That, in turn, has created opportunities for Pelle Larsson and Nikola Jovic, who have seized their moments, after sitting out with injuries of their own.

“I mean I want everybody to thrive. It’s everybody,” Adebayo said of seeing others contribute as he sat. “So from that standpoint. Pelle has missed some time, Niko’s missed some time. So it’s good for them to be back in the rotation, feeling that good energy.”

Prior to going out, Adebayo had a pair of games where he shot 4 of 11, a combined 1 of 17 on 3-pointers in his past seven appearances.

But, he reiterated, no injury excuses.

“Moreso shots not falling,” he said. “I’m not going to make no excuse ’cause I was hurt, why I didn’t make shots. That makes no sense. If I’m healthy enough to play, then I played. So that’s no excuse.

“I would say it’s just shots not falling. It’s a long season. We’re going to go through ups and downs, we’re going to go through slumps, and we get back in a groove.”

Rolling again

Saturday marked the sixth time the Heat scored 140 or more this season, having done so eight total times prior in the franchise’s first 37 seasons.

The 83 points in the second half against Indiana set a franchise record, with 39 points in the third quarter and 44 in the fourth, each tying season highs for those quarters.

After attempting a season-high 104 field-goal attempts in their road win Friday in Atlanta, the Heat set another season high with 107 on Saturday.

Fueling the scoring barrage Saturday was a season high 38 points off turnovers, with Indiana committing 26.

Injury report

In addition to Adebayo being upgraded to probable and Herro again being listed as out, also listed as out for Monday night are two-way players Vlad Goldin and Jahmir Young, on their G League assignments, and Terry Rozier, who remains away from the team amid the FBI gambling investigation.

On the injury report but listed as available are Larsson (ankle), Jovic (elbow), Kel’el Ware (quad), Keshad Johnson (illness) and Kasparas Jakucionis (ankle).