{"id":51889,"date":"2025-11-18T23:20:09","date_gmt":"2025-11-18T23:20:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/51889\/"},"modified":"2025-11-18T23:20:09","modified_gmt":"2025-11-18T23:20:09","slug":"miami-heats-bam-adebayo-poised-to-return-from-toe-sprain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/51889\/","title":{"rendered":"Miami Heat’s Bam Adebayo poised to return from toe sprain"},"content":{"rendered":"

MIAMI \u2014 Sometimes the time is just right, which appears to be the case with Bam Adebayo\u2019s recovery from the toe sprain that has sidelined the Heat center the past six games.<\/p>\n

With Adebayo during Tuesday\u2019s practice upgraded to questionable for Wednesday night\u2019s game against the Golden State Warriors<\/a> at Kaseya Center, the news came as news to coach Erik Spoelstra.<\/p>\n

\u201cWell that\u2019s good to hear,\u201d Spoelstra said when informed at the start of his post-practice media briefing. \u201cI didn\u2019t know that.\u201d<\/p>\n

For the Heat, it has been a cautionary process after Adebayo pulled himself during the first quarter of the team\u2019s Nov. 5 road loss to the Denver Nuggets. The Heat have gone 4-2 since.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s had two good practices in a row. There\u2019s stuff behind the scenes. He\u2019s really been putting in the time, the treatment, the active work,\u201d Spoelstra said. \u201cI think it\u2019s been a responsible plan and then we\u2019ll see what the trainers say in the next 24 hours.\u201d<\/p>\n

Adebayo said it essentially was a case of the team protecting him from himself.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou see both sides,\u201d he said of possibly having returned sooner. \u201cSome of it, obviously you feel like you can help. And then the other side, you want to be fully healthy so it doesn\u2019t come back. So you toggle that line.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd that\u2019s when you turn to the head coach and the training staff. Because they both know I\u2019ll go out there and play regardless. So they got to save me from myself in a sense. So it\u2019s been a hard two weeks.\u201d<\/p>\n

Amid the absence, it became even further evident how essential Adebayo is to both the team\u2019s defense and rebounding.<\/p>\n

\u201cI mean that shouldn\u2019t be a wonder to people out there,\u201d Spoelstra said of what was lacking amid Adebayo\u2019s absence. \u201cYou\u2019re talking about one of the very best two-way players in the game. He\u2019s going to make an impact, and all these things that he does are things that impact winning.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kel\u2019el Ware has been starting<\/a> in place of Adebayo during the absence.<\/p>\n

Like Adebayo, guard Tyler Herro also worked at Tuesday\u2019s practice, but remains listed as out<\/a> as he works back from September ankle surgery.<\/p>\n

Wednesday reunion<\/p>\n

Wednesday night\u2019s game marks the second time the Heat will face Jimmy Butler since the forward\u2019s trade last season to the Warriors, with the Heat winning last March\u2019s matchup at Kaseya Center.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ll be open to whatever it ends up being,\u201d Spoelstra said, with it uncertain whether Golden State will play its regulars on the second night of the back-to-back set. \u201cBut we already have done the game. So how many games do we have to play for it not to be the big storyline?\u201d<\/p>\n

Similarly, it will be the second game for Heat forward Andrew Wiggins since he was sent the other way in the deal.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like I got it out of my system last year,\u201d Wiggins said of the reunion. \u201cBut it\u2019s always fun playing against your former team. It\u2019s that competitive spirit, seeing your old guys that you used to fight with, play with on the court.<\/p>\n

\u201cI still talk to a lot of the players time to time, coaches time to time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Heat forward Jaime Jaquez Jr. said he expects a different feel than last season\u2019s matchup at Kaseya Center.<\/p>\n

\u201cKind of moved on,\u201d he said. \u201cBoth guys are enjoying their new time. We\u2019re here, they\u2019re there, and we\u2019re taking it as another game.\u201d<\/p>\n

So, no, not a distraction, Adebayo said.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou kind of block it out. You move forward in life,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Fine added<\/p>\n

The NBA announced Tuesday that the Cleveland Cavaliers have been fined $100,000 for violating the league\u2019s Player Participation Policy in the wake of actions regarding a game last week against the Heat.<\/p>\n

The NBA cited the Cavaliers holding out for rest Donovan Mitchell and Evan Mobley, who are both designated as \u201cstar\u201d players under the policy, from what nonetheless turned into a Cavaliers victory on Nov. 12 at Kaseya Center.<\/p>\n

The policy, which was adopted prior to the 2023-24 season, is \u201cintended to promote participation in the NBA\u2019s regular season.\u201d<\/p>\n

Thanksgiving event<\/p>\n

The Heat on Tuesday held their 34th Annual Thanksgiving Celebration event at the Miami Rescue Mission.<\/p>\n

The event included a block party hosted in collaboration with The Caring Place at Miami Rescue Mission.<\/p>\n

At the event featuring Heat players, coaches and executives, 600 Thanksgiving baskets were distributed and 450 hot meals were served.<\/p>\n

Additional beneficiaries from the event included Feeding South Florida, Curley\u2019s House of Style Hope Relief Food Bank, SafeSpace, Salvation Army, Amigos for Kids, The Shop at Miami-Dade County Public Schools, Volunteers of America, and others.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"MIAMI \u2014 Sometimes the time is just right, which appears to be the case with Bam Adebayo\u2019s recovery…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":51890,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[114,123,125,2490,124,2295,110],"class_list":{"0":"post-51889","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-miami","8":"tag-latest-headlines","9":"tag-miami","10":"tag-miami-headlines","11":"tag-miami-heat","12":"tag-miami-news","13":"tag-nba","14":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51889","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=51889"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51889\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/51890"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=51889"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=51889"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=51889"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}