Heat praises Bam Adebayo’s toughness after stitches. Also, Jimmy Butler out vs. Magic

While Bam Adebayo’s Miami Heat teammates and coaches classify him as tough, Adebayo doesn’t love getting stitches.

“I’m one of those people, I don’t really like needles,” Adebayo said. “So it’s kind of rough for me in the beginning. But if you love the game enough and obviously I do, and I love being out there with my teammates, you go through stuff like that.”

So, Adebayo went through that process after being hit in the face early in the third quarter of Friday’s 104-97 home loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder. He went to the locker room with 10:19 left in the third quarter to receive seven stitches for a cut above his left eye before re-entering the game with 4:17 remaining in the same period.

Adebayo was on the court for the rest of the game, finishing the defeat with 17 points on 7-of-11 shooting from the field, 10 rebounds, one assist, one steal and one block in 36 minutes. The Heat outscored the Thunder by five points with Adebayo on the court in the seven-point loss.

“He’s tough,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said of Adebayo ahead of Saturday night’s matchup against the Orlando Magic at Kia Center to complete the back-to-back set. “You had no doubt that he was going to work his way back in there. If he could have just put a Band-Aid on there during the timeout, he would have gone back in at that point.”

In the process, Adebayo recorded the 206th double-double of his NBA career (spent entirely with the Heat) on Friday to pass Alonzo Mourning for sole possession of second place on the Heat’s all-time list for most double-doubles. Only Rony Seikaly has turned in more double-double performances (221 double-doubles) than Adebayo in a Heat uniform.

Adebayo, 27, has yet to miss a game this season. He’s in his second season as the Heat’s captain.

“That’s what makes Bam Bam,” Heat guard Tyler Herro said. “He’s able to impact the game in so many ways. Then he gets hurt or gets his eye split open, and he’s able to get back here and get stitches and jump right back in the game. It shows how much he loves the game. He wants to be out there to help us win. That’s what you want out of your captain.”

BUTLER OUT

While Adebayo was able to finish Friday’s game despite needing stitches to close a cut above his eye, Heat forward Jimmy Butler left Friday’s game early because of a stomach illness.

Butler will also miss Saturday’s matchup against the Magic with that stomach illness.

It marks the sixth game that Butler has been sidelined in the Heat’s first 26 games of the season. Butler did not travel with the team to Orlando.

Butler, 35, left Friday’s game with 4:41 remaining in the first quarter before being ruled out for the rest of the contest.

It initially appeared that Butler exited Friday’s game early because of a sprained ankle after battling for a loose ball with Thunder forward Luguentz Dort, as Dort came away with the steal on his way to throwing down a dunk on the other end and Butler came away hobbling.

The Heat immediately called for a timeout following that sequence, and Butler walked straight to the locker room with team trainers.

But minutes later, the Heat announced that Butler would miss the rest of Friday’s game with an illness.

Butler looked off from the start of Friday’s contest, going scoreless and not putting up a shot in his 7:19 of playing time against the Thunder just days after recording a triple-double in Monday’s loss to the Detroit Pistons. His only stats on Friday were two assists.

“I’m not thinking any other thought,” Spoelstra said of Butler entering Friday’s game with an illness. “If guys say they can go, we’re going right now.”

Butler, who has been at the center of trade speculation this month, is averaging 18.5 points, 5.8 rebounds, 4.9 assists and 1.3 steals per game while shooting a career-best 55.2 percent from the field this season.

“We got to figure this thing out,” Adebayo said of playing without Butler. “You can’t harp on who’s in, who’s out. It’s about going out there and trying to get the W.”

Along with missing Butler, the Heat ruled out Kevin Love (personal reasons) and Josh Richardson (right heel inflammation) for Saturday’s game against the Magic.

Meanwhile, Josh Christopher and Keshad Johnson, who are both on two-way contracts, are available for the Heat on Saturday after playing for the Sioux Falls Skyforce in the G League Showcase in Orlando on Saturday afternoon.

The Skyforce defeated the Iowa Wolves 117-104 on Saturday to advance to the championship game of the G League Showcase. The Skyforce will take on the Westchester Knicks in the event’s championship contest on Sunday at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando (7:30 p.m, ESPN2).