The Miami Heat have repeatedly shown that they are genuine contenders throughout the last few seasons. While they haven’t won a championship, they went to the Finals in 2020 and were a shot away from getting back there last season. This new resurgence has come thanks to the acquisition of Jimmy Butler in 2019, and the rise of both Tyler Herro and Bam Adebayo in recent times.
The Celtics have been a team they have faced quite a few times in the process. Boston denied Heat another trip to the Finals last season after beating them in the Eastern Conference Finals. Both teams have gotten quite familiar with the way the other functions, and it seems that even the new players added to the rosters are picking it up quite fast.
Malcolm Brogdon Called Out Bam Adebayo For Getting Away With Setting Bad Screens
The Celtics got Malcolm Brogdon in the offseason, and he seems to be an incredible pickup for them so far, Brogdon has added essential playmaking to the team along with excellent defense and scoring ability. And it seems that he is already picking up on things to say about Boston’s rivals. Following a hard-fought win against the Heat in just their second game of the season, Brogdon called Adebayo out for setting what he considers to be illegal screens.
Malcom Brogdon shared some thoughts on Bam Adebayo with @RealBobManning
⚡️@betonline_ag @calm @AthleticGreens pic.twitter.com/vxEBwTmIP7
— Celtics on CLNS (@CelticsCLNS) October 22, 2022
“He’s a great screener. Some of them are illegal and don’t get called, but that’s the reality of the game. Navigating through them, he’s a big guy that screens well, and they play well through him.”
The one truth of the NBA is that no player ever thinks they have committed a foul on defense, and offensive players believe they are fouled on nearly every drive. There is hardly an objective measure of what constitutes a foul and what doesn’t but there is no denying that Adebayo does set hard screens. Now how much of this is a legitimate thing for the league to look into remains to be seen, but Brogdon is likely saying this as a way of affecting the calls next time.
Adebayo had 19 points against the Celtics on Friday, while Brogdon added 7 points to the game, but it was Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown that made all the difference in the end. Brown had 28 and Tatum 29 in what turned out to be a 7-point win for the Celtics. The Cs don’t seem to have let the Udoka situation affect them to start the season, and Brogdon looks like he’s a seamless fit with the rest of the team.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pWrF2uhxvbk
