Where Adebayo stands entering Bucks playoff series. And injury updates, Heat notes

Seldom has a player drawn more praise after an eight-point, four-turnover, 1-for-9 shooting night than Bam Adebayo elicited after Friday’s win against the Chicago Bulls, a victory that propelled Miami into the NBA playoffs.

While the offensive numbers were ugly, everything else about his game was beautiful, including the 17 rebounds and tenacious defense, capped by a late game blocked shot to seal the win. He also made several nice passes, closing with four assists.

“The reason I love Bam is even if you don’t make shots, you can affect the game in a lot of ways,” Jimmy Butler said. “That’s the definition of a star player, a superstar player. When you lock in on the defensive end, that’s the part that gets everybody excited.

“I hope he makes every shot Sunday. But if he doesn’t and plays like this [defensively and with rebounding], that’s going to be the reason we win.”

The Heat outscored the Bulls by 16 when Adebayo was on the floor on Friday. The 17 rebounds equaled his season high and were four short of a career high.

“None of this was happening if Bam wasn’t so electric defensively,” Erik Spoelstra said after Friday’s 102-91 win. “He was traffic-copping everything they were doing. He seemed to be in three places at once.”

But Miami likely will need more offense - and more efficient offense - from Adebayo in the Bucks playoff series, which begins with Game 1 at 5:30 p.m. on Sunday.

This past week, Adebayo was 5 for 12 against the Hawks and 1 for 9 against Chicago, closing with a combined 20 points in those two play-in games. Adebayo averaged 20.4 points this season but has scored 20 just once in his past nine games.

Including the play-in games, Adebayo’s scoring average has dipped from 21.6 before the All Star break to 16.6 points per game after it.

“I’ve got to shoot my shots, pick my spot and live with the results,” he said. “I feel I had a big impact on that game [Friday] even though my shots weren’t falling.”

The Heat is 11-5 this season when Adebayo scores 25 points or more; the last time he reached that threshold was a 26-point game against Memphis on March 15.

Adebayo has made the playoffs in five of his six seasons and averaged 14.8 points and 8.6 rebounds in 46 career playoff games, while shooting 55.9 percent from the field and 73.9 percent on free throws.

“This is the moment a lot of guys dream of,” Adebayo said of advancing to the playoffs. “A lot of the guys want to be in the playoffs who don’t get that luxury. That’s earned. You don’t take that for granted.”

INJURY UPDATE

The Heat listed Kyle Lowry (left knee soreness) and Gabe Vincent (right hip pointer) as questionable for Game 1 at 5:30 p.m. Sunday in Milwaukee.

Lowry re-aggravated his left knee injury and left Friday’s game for good with 9:51 remaining in the fourth quarter.

“I’m good. Just a little tweak, little pressure on it,” Lowry said Friday night. “But I’m OK. All good. I’m ready to go on Sunday. If coach would have asked me to go back in the game, I would have gone back in the game.”

Vincent appeared to be in discomfort; he took only two shots in 27 scoreless minutes.

Forward Nikola Jovic (back) remains out.

THIS AND THAT

The Pistons plan to request permission from the Heat to interview Heat assistant Chris Quinn for their head coaching job, TNT reported. Bucks associate head coach Charles Lee also will interview and Toronto assistant Adrian Griffin is another candidate, per ESPN. Dwane Casey stepped down as coach of the Pistons at the end of this season.

▪ The Heat is now 12-1 this season when it holds teams below 100 points and 27-9 when it outrebounds the opponent.

▪ With Butler and Max Strus each finishing with 31 points on Friday, it marked the first time that the Heat had two 30-point scorers in the same game since Dec. 10, 2019, when Kendrick Nunn (36), Duncan Robinson (34) and Adebayo (30) all reached that threshold.

Strus fell one point shy of his career scoring high -- 32 against Orlando in December 2021.

“There were a couple times in the first half we didn’t rotate correctly,” Bulls coach Billy Donovan said. “He was sitting on the backside and the ball movement always found him. Once we solved that, he was not as much of a factor.”

Strus scored 23 in the first half and had six points in the final 1:14 of the game (on a three-pointer and three free throws).

“You wouldn’t expect Strus to come out and have 30 plus,” Bulls forward DeMar DeRozan said. “He did a great job.”

▪ Butler was 9 for 10 from the free throw line on Friday and the Heat is 17-8 this season when he attempts at least 10 free throws.

▪ The Heat is the third team ever and first since the 2000-01 Pacers to be a No. 8 seed after being a No. 1 seed the previous season.

▪ Bally Sports Sun can carry all Heat playoff games that aren’t on ABC, meaning at least the first six games of the series, if needed. TNT also will carry Game 1, with Kevin Harlan and Reggie Miller announcing.