Heat wanted to get Bam Adebayo more involved in the offense. Mission accomplished in Mexico

Bam Adebayo’s quiet start to the season appears to be over.

After averaging just 11 points on 9.5 field-goal attempts per game through the Heat’s first four games of the season, Adebayo exploded for 32 points on 12-of-24 shooting from the field, 3-of-5 shooting on threes and 5-of-6 from the foul line, 14 rebounds, two assists, one steal and one block in 31 minutes to lead the Heat (3-2) to a 118-98 blowout win over the Washington Wizards on Saturday night in Mexico City.

“My teammates got me going early and then it was just a snowball effect from there,” Adebayo said, with the Heat returning to Miami to take on the Sacramento Kings on Monday at Kaseya Center (8:15 p.m., FanDuel Sports Network - Sun).

Bam Adebayo dominates and other takeaways from Heat’s blowout win over Wizards in Mexico City

The Heat made an effort to get Adebayo the ball from the start, as he scored the team’s first five points on Saturday.

On the Heat’s first possession of the game, Adebayo went to work in the post to score the first points of the game on a hook shot. The three-time All-Star center then made his first three-pointer of the season a few possessions later.

By the time the night was over, Adebayo set new season highs in points, rebounds, field-goal attempts, three-point attempts, field-goal makes and three-point makes. The three three-point makes and five three-point attempts are actually also new career highs for Adebayo.

In addition, it marked just the fourth game that Adebayo has finished with 24 or more field-goal attempts in during his NBA career. It’s also just the ninth regular-season game that he has finished with at least 32 points in and the first regular-season game that he has finished with at least 32 points and 14 rebounds in during his NBA career.

The bottom line is Saturday wasn’t just Adebayo’s best offensive performances of the season. It actually goes down as one of the top offensive games of Adebayo’s NBA career.

“My teammates got me going from the jump,” Adebayo again emphasized following Saturday’s win. “We’re pros, man. Once we see the ball go in a couple times, it becomes like an ocean. Then you just get in a flow and you just get locked in, and it just feels like the ball is going to go in every time for you.”

Adebayo, 27, did all of it while following the Heat’s offensive plan to avoid too many long two-pointers, which is a shot that made up a chunk of his shot diet last season.

Adebayo’s big night on Saturday came with an efficient shot profile that included 16 shots in the paint and five shots from behind the arc. Only three of his 24 field-goal attempts were non-paint twos.

Based on all of those numbers, it’s no surprise that Adebayo finished the Heat’s win over the Wizards with a season-high usage rate (an estimate of the percentage of team plays used by a player while on the court) of 35.4 percent after posting a usage rate of just 17.9 percent through the first four games. Saturday’s usage rate represents Adebayo’s highest in a regular-season game since February 2022.

Adebayo also finished the Heat’s victory over the Wizards with a team-high 74 touches (the number of times a player touches and possesses the ball during the game). That’s a big jump from the 51.5 touches that he averaged through the first four games of the season.

But more touches for Adebayo meant fewer touches for others, as Heat guards Tyler Herro and Terry Rozier saw their touches go down on Saturday.

“I feel like that’s a Spo (Heat coach Erik Spoelstra) question,” Adebayo said Friday when asked whether he can do anything to become a bigger part of the Heat’s offense. “My job is to go out there and make sure we win.”

Adebayo went out there and made sure the Heat won on Saturday while taking a more aggressive approach on offense. Heat coaches and players also did their part in making sure Adebayo was a bigger part of the offense.

Of course, Saturday’s dominant stat line did come with 19-year-old center Alexandre Sarr defending him for most of the game as part of a Wizards defense that’s not expected to be among the NBA’s best. But Adebayo and the Heat hope Saturday was the end of his slow start to the season.

JAIME JAQUEZ JR.’S MOMENT

Every time Heat second-year forward Jaime Jaquez Jr. touched the ball or even just entered Saturday’s game, there was a loud cheer from the Mexico City crowd.

That’s because Jaquez has Mexican roots. He’s only the sixth person with Mexican citizenship to ever play in the NBA, joining a list that also includes Eduardo Najera, Horacio Llamas, Gustavo Ayon, Jorge Gutierrez and Juan Toscano-Anderson. Jaquez was born in the Los Angeles area to a mother of Norwegian descent and a father with a Mexican background.

“Every time he touched the ball, you could hear the crowd noise go up,” Spoelstra said.

Jaquez capped off a memorable and eventful few days in Mexico City with eight points on 4-of-12 shooting from the field, 10 rebounds and one assist in 25 minutes off the bench during the Heat’s win over the Wizards. A large group of Jaquez’s family attended Saturday’s game.

“Everyone blew my expectations away,” said Jaquez, who is the first player with Mexican citizenship to be selected in the first round of the NBA Draft. “I couldn’t imagine this much love being shown to myself and my family. It was truly incredible, and I was happy to see all the fans and get to interact and be able to sign autographs and take pictures with people. I can feel the love and it’s very much reciprocated.”

THIS AND THAT

▪ The Heat extended its rotation to 10 players in Saturday’s win. With Duncan Robinson and Kevin Love both out because of personal reasons, that opened the door for rookie Pelle Larsson to play the first meaningful minutes of his NBA career.

Larsson, who the Heat selected in the second round of this year’s draft, closed the Heat’s win over the Wizards with seven points on 3-of-4 shooting from the field and 1-of-2 shooting on threes, one rebound, two assists and one steal in 14 minutes.

Also, Heat guard Josh Richardson made his season debut on Saturday after being sidelined by shoulder, heel and calf injuries.

Richardson finished his first appearance in nearly nine months with one rebound and one assist in 16 minutes off the Heat’s bench. He didn’t score, missing each of his four field-goal attempts.

“Great to be back out there. Lot of rust to knock off, but I’m grateful!” Richardson tweeted following his season debut.

The Heat’s bench rotation on Saturday included Jaquez, Larsson, Richardson, Alec Burks and Thomas Bryant. Miami then emptied its bench late in the lopsided victory.

▪ The Heat is holding Medal Recognition Night during Monday’s matchup against the Kings at Kaseya Center, honoring Adebayo, Nikola Jovic and Spoelstra for their work at the Paris Olympics this past summer.

“In a special halftime ceremony, the team will raise a banner to the rafters of Kaseya Center to honor [Adebayo’s] performance on Team USA,” the Heat said in a press release. “Additionally, a video tribute will acknowledge the bronze medal Nikola Jokic won as a member of Team Serbia.

With Adebayo winning his second Olympic gold medal this year, he’ll get his second Olympic gold banner in the Kaseya Center rafters on Monday. He’ll be the first Heat player with two such banners alongside four other banners celebrating players who have won one gold while with the Heat — Alonzo Mourning (2000), Tim Hardaway (2000), Wade (2008) and LeBron James (2012).

▪ Monday’s matchup against the Kings at Kaseya Center has an unusual start of time of 8:15 p.m. because the NBA is staggering a full schedule of games in 15-minute increments before the entire league is idle Tuesday for Election Day.

▪ Love and Robinson are expected to be available for Monday’s game against the Kings after missing time because of personal reasons. Love missed the first five games of the season and Robinson missed Saturday’s win in Mexico City.

The only Heat players on the injury report for Monday’s contest are Josh Christopher and Keshad Johnson, who are currently in the G League as part of their two-way contracts.