Bam Adebayo happy to be back, Heat happy Adebayo is back: ‘It was all just good vibes’

On the eve of Miami Heat star center Bam Adebayo’s return, Gabe Vincent was worried about his close friend and teammate.

“I texted him last night to get some sleep,” Vincent said following the Heat’s 104-99 win over the Toronto Raptors on Monday night. “I already knew he wasn’t going to sleep. It’s like a kid getting ready for the first day of school. He hit me back that he couldn’t sleep, he was too excited.”

Adebayo, 24, may not have slept much, but he did make his successful return on Monday after missing 22 straight games as he recovered from surgery on a torn ulnar collateral ligament in his right thumb. He immediately returned to the starting lineup to finish the Heat’s win over the Raptors with 14 points while shooting 4-of-12 from the field and 6-of-7 from the foul line, nine rebounds, two assists, one steal and one block in 32 minutes.

It marked Adebayo’s first game action in seven weeks since injuring his thumb during a Nov. 29 home loss to the Denver Nuggets. The Heat posted a 14-8 record during his absence.

“Today was about trying to get back in the groove,” Adebayo said, with the Heat set to close its four-game homestand on Wednesday against the Portland Trail Blazers (7:30 p.m., Bally Sports Sun). “My teammates tried to get me involved, but we just played ball and just figured it out. We got the win and that’s always good in your first game back when you get the W, and that’s the thing that matters the most.”

With Adebayo back, the Heat’s switch-heavy defense returned. There were also more post-up and isolation opportunities within Miami’s offense with Adebayo and Jimmy Butler again both available, as Butler has also missed 15 of the past 24 games because of injuries.

“Just from the human side of it, it was just great to have him back out there,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said of Adebayo. “He was so anxious and so excited and he has been beside himself for like the last week, and you can see his energy out there. He makes us different. That’s probably the biggest thing that he does. Just that uncommon versatility just makes us different on both ends of the court. His rhythm and timing and all that stuff will continue to get better. But it was certainly great to have him back in the mix.”

Adebayo did show some rust, as he finished just 1-of-6 on non-rim paint shots and missed both of his midrange looks. That’s to be expected after so much time away, but he was just happy to be back on the court around his teammates again.

“The biggest thing I missed was getting to be in the game enjoying your teammates’ success,” Adebayo said. “Being out there, being in the environment where the crowd is rocking.”

Adebayo missed it so much that he decided to stay around the team by traveling on road trips even when he was still weeks away from his return.

“If I wasn’t around the team, I would have been bored out of my mind, honestly,” he said. “It was great to be around the team, feeding my energy into them and finding a way to impact basketball without being on the court.”

However, Adebayo’s return did have implications for the rest of the Heat’s rotation.

Rookie center Omer Yurtseven, who played in each of the 22 games that Adebayo missed and started in the previous 10 games before Adebayo’s return, received his first DNP-CD (did not play, coach’s decision) since Nov. 27. Veteran center Dewayne Dedmon played in his usual role off the bench as Adebayo’s backup on Monday.

“Omer is fully on our minds and there were a couple times in this game where I thought about throwing him in there,” Spoelstra said. “He’ll continue to work and prepare, and he’ll be ready for his next opportunity.”

Also, Spoelstra moved Duncan Robinson back into the starting lineup and Max Strus returned to a bench role on Monday. Robinson played the previous five games as a reserve after starting in his first 35 appearances this season, but Spoelstra noted that he wants to get back to the starting lineup of Kyle Lowry, Robinson, Butler, P.J. Tucker and Adebayo that worked so well for the Heat before the injuries.

The Heat is still waiting for its leading trio of Adebayo, Butler and Lowry to play in its first game together since a Nov. 27 win over the Chicago Bulls. Lowry was not available for Adebayo’s return, as he missed Monday’s win over the Raptors because of personal reasons.

“These are tough decisions,” Spoelstra said. “We’ll continue to use our full roster as needed. But we have to make some decisions right now to get everybody comfortable, confident and in rhythm. I want to get back to that lineup whenever we can, when Kyle gets back here, and then just give that a chance. We’ll build our rotation from there. Then we have the depth to be able to adjust or manage it as needed.”

More tough rotation decisions await Spoelstra and his staff as others return from injury this season. But on Monday, it was about Adebayo, who played with a wrap around his surgically repaired right thumb just “for precaution and my mental peace.”

“It’s great to have Bam back,” Butler said. “I say it all the time: He’s the energy and the engine that makes this whole team go. He does so many things well, scoring the ball, passing. Just his presence out there on the floor.”

Heat captain Udonis Haslem held up a sign that that read, “Welcome Back Bam,” during pregame warmups. Adebayo was happy to be back.

“Being in the game, it’s just a different feel,” Adebayo said. “The energy, all the fans, UD holding up the ‘Welcome Back’ sign. It was all just good vibes today.”