How did Heat’s Adebayo fare in his second All-Star Game? A quiet night that ended with a win

Miami Heat center Bam Adebayo made it clear in recent weeks how much making the All-Star Game meant to him. It’s an honor he wanted and felt he deserved this season.

Adebayo’s All-Star moment came Sunday as the Heat’s lone representative in this season’s All-Star Game at Vivint Arena in Salt Lake City.

With the All-Star Draft held just before the showcase game tipped off, Adebayo was selected by Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo with the 11th pick among the 14 reserves.

Adebayo was quiet, finishing with four points on 2-of-2 shooting from the field and one assist in 24 minutes. But he was victorious, as Team Giannis came away with a 184-175 win over Team LeBron on Sunday night.

It marked the second All-Star Game that Adebayo has been selected for in his six NBA seasons, as he also earned the honor in 2020. He recorded eight points and two rebounds in 12 minutes during his first appearance three years ago.

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Adebayo entered his second All-Star Game early as the first substitution after Antetokounmpo opened the scoring with a dunk and pulled himself out 20 seconds into the first quarter, which was the plan heading into the night because of a wrist injury Antetokounmpo suffered just before the All-Star break. Adebayo was subbed in for Antetokounmpo with 11:40 remaining in the opening period.

Adebayo’s first stint lasted 7:47, as he recorded two points on his only shot attempt — a dunk assisted by Boston’s Jayson Tatum — and one assist during this stretch.

Adebayo then played the final 5:42 of the second quarter, staying perfect by converting his second shot attempt of the night on a driving dunk. During this stint to close the first half, Adebayo mixed in some All-Star Game antics by throwing an inbounds pass off the back of Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic, but Jokic immediately responded by stripping the ball away from Adebayo a few seconds later.

Adebayo did not record any stats despite playing 10 minutes in the second half.

Adebayo, 25, joined Alonzo Mourning, Jimmy Butler, Tim Hardaway, Shaquille O’Neal, Dwyane Wade, LeBron James and Chris Bosh as players who have been voted into the All-Star Game multiple times as members of the Heat.

As part of the relatively new All-Star Game format, Team Giannis and Team LeBron played for their respective organizations and the teams competed to win each of the first three quarters. Team Giannis played for Raise The Future, which aims to reduce the number of youth in foster care and increase the chances of lifelong connection by providing trauma-healing services to young people and families, and Team LeBron played for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Utah, which creates and supports one-to-one mentoring relationships to help youth.

Each of the first three quarters started with the score 0-0 and were 12 minutes long, and the winner of each quarter received $100,000 for their organization.

At the start of the fourth quarter, the game clock was turned off and a Final Target Score was set. The Final Target Score was determined by taking the leading team’s total score through three quarters and adding 24 points, and the fourth quarter ended when a team made a basket or free throw to reach or surpass that number.

The winning team (the team that reached the Final Target Score first) earned $150,000 for its organization.

On Sunday, the Final Target Score was 182 with Team Giannis entering the fourth quarter with a big 158-141 lead. Team Giannis held on for the win with the help of Tatum, who set a new All-Star Game record with 55 points.

With All-Star Weekend coming to an end Sunday, Adebayo now has a few days off before returning to practice on Thursday in Miami. The Heat resumes its schedule on Friday against the Bucks at Fiserv Forum.