2 big men the Boston Celtics could pursue in offseason to counter Bam Adebayo
Bam Adebayo is a sizable thorn in the side of the Boston Celtics, and it could force them to bleed out this postseason.
The Miami Heat were able to reclaim home-court advantage with a win at the T.D. Garden in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference finals on Saturday night on the strength of a 31-point, 10-rebound, six-assist Adebayo explosion.
With Robert Williams out, Al Horford had very little success guarding Adebayo anywhere on the floor.
Dan Greenberg provided both the raw defensive numbers and some context to Horford’s struggles against Adebayo:
Bam cooked Al last night to the tune of 12 points on 6-7 shooting over 23 possessions
— Dan Greenberg (@StoolGreenie) May 22, 2022
Theis had him on just 2 possessions and he didn’t score
Couldn’t solve him in P&R and then Al lost the individual matchup. That’s tough
This was a far-cry from Horford’s Game 2’s defensive showing:
Al Horford guarded Bam Adebayo on 17 possessions and allowed 0 points
— Dan Greenberg (@StoolGreenie) May 20, 2022
He guarded PJ Tucker on 11 possessions and allowed 2 points
He guarded Jimmy Butler on 4 possessions and allowed 0 points
With the Cs now trailing in the series to a team that returned Kyle Lowry and doesn’t appear to be losing Jimmy Butler for any length of time, it’s possible that Boston has met its match against Miami.
If that ends up being the case, it’s possible that some inward reflection is necessary, and a possible offseason shuffle could be necessary to move the needle in the future, when the Milwaukee Bucks will be at full strength themselves and another Eastern Conference contender could sprout in the offseason.
In order to combat the big Bucks and Adebayo and the Heat in the future, here are 2 big men the Cs could acquire this offseason: