145-125 victory over the Indiana Pacers<\/a> at Kaseya Center. \u201cObviously, I\u2019ve got to keep creating space for Bam. We\u2019ve got to be like, you know how the magnets are? They stick together, but if you flip them, they kind of go away from one another.<\/p>\n\u201cThat\u2019s how me and Bam got to be out there. When he\u2019s on the top, I\u2019ve got to work the baseline.\u00a0 When I\u2019m on the top, he\u2019s got to work the baseline. We\u2019ve just got to keep on being away from one another, away from one another\u2019s space and vicinity.\u201d<\/p>\n
It could not have worked much better against the Pacers, with Antetokounmpo closing with 27 points, 17 rebounds and 10 assists, and with Adebayo finishing with a season-high 27 points and nine rebounds.<\/p>\n
Antetokounmpo said if he sees Adebayo with a one-on-one advantage, then it\u2019s time to feast on leftovers.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf a shot goes up,\u201d he said, \u201cI have the opportunity to rebound the ball. Then I\u2019m going to go fight for it.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut there\u2019s times I\u2019m good with the ball, too. It\u2019s not like I cannot create.\u201d<\/p>\n
The triple-double was the 58th of Antetokounmpo\u2019s career and second with the Heat. That makes him one of only seven players in the franchise\u2019s 39 seasons with multiple triple-doubles, joining Jimmy Butler (13), LeBron James (9), Adebayo (8), Dwyane Wade (5), Hassan Whiteside (4) and Kyle Lowry (3).<\/p>\n
Friday night\u2019s performance also marked Antetokounmpo\u2019s fourth double-double in the Heat\u2019s six games, averaging 28 points and 16.3 rebounds over the last three games.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m willing to do whatever it takes to win,\u201d Antetokounmpo said, with the Heat next turning their attention to the five-game western swing that opens Monday night against the Los Angeles Lakers at Crypto.com Center. \u201cIf sometimes it\u2019s me setting screens and being in the dunker\u2019s\u00a0 spot or rebounding the ball, I\u2019m going to do it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Of Antetokounmpo\u2019s magnetic take, Adebayo said he appreciates being given his space.<\/p>\n
\u201cI see what it can be,\u201d he said of the evolving chemistry between the two power players. \u201cSo you see the potential.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor us, it\u2019s got to be, we\u2019ve got to keep staying consistent, keep trying to collect these wins.\u201d<\/p>\n
With ample space in the paint to make it work, Adebayo closing with 20 paint points against the Pacers, Antetokounmpo with 24, leading the league in paint scoring.<\/p>\n
All, a factor, coach Erik Spoelstra said, of being mindful of proper spacing.<\/p>\n
\u201cI can\u2019t emphasize that enough,\u201d Spoelstra said. They can\u2019t hear it enough. Our principles and the spacing, no matter what we do, we have to be super mindful and disciplined to it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Klay time<\/p>\n
The awaited Klay Thompson breakout game arrived Friday night, with Thompson closing with a season-high 25 points on 9-of-14 shooting that included 7-of-12 3-point accuracy.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m feeling really comfortable, and it\u2019s something I can definitely build on and take with me,\u201d the 36-year-old veteran said. I didn\u2019t force any bad looks, really. I might have taken more than two heat checks, but they all felt good, and I felt like my legs were underneath me.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was truly a special night for me just to lift a lid off the rim and give me confidence to keep going.\u201d<\/p>\n
Starting sizzle<\/p>\n
With his 15 points and 11 assists against the Pacers, Davion Mitchell became just the second player in the Heat\u2019s 39 seasons with at least 10 assists in four of the season\u2019s first six games, something Tim Hardaway did at the start of 1997-98.<\/p>\n
No Heat player has had five double-digit assist games in the team\u2019s first seven games, with that seventh game for the Heat coming on Monday night against the Lakers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"MIAMI \u2014 As he figures out the best way to make it work in his new home, Giannis…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":443687,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[114,123,125,2490,124,2295,110],"class_list":["post-443686","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-miami","tag-latest-headlines","tag-miami","tag-miami-headlines","tag-miami-heat","tag-miami-news","tag-nba","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/443686","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=443686"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/443686\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/443687"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=443686"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=443686"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=443686"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}