Bam Adebayo improved injury report against Nuggets, battling back injury

MIAMI – Like The Miami Heat defeated the Indiana Pacers Saturday night, 142-116, the team once again lacked stars Bam Adebayo and Tyler Herro with back and finger injuries, respectively. With Heat captain Adebayo dealing with back painhe would talk in more detail about what he is going through because he will be back on monday.

Adebayo has missed the previous two games with back pain, but on Sunday the big man was on the roster “probably” for Monday night’s game against the Denver Nuggets. While he had just missed two games, Adebayo was dealing with this problem “for a while now,” describing it as a “painful” question.

“It finally got to the point where I had to sit down,” Adebayo said after Miami’s win over Indiana, speaking to the media for the first time since his absence. “Sit down and rest. I mean, it really was. It was one of those nagging injuries. So I finally had to sit down.”

Bam Adebayo spoke to the media after missing his second straight game with lower back pain.

He said the injury has been bothering him “for a while.” He said it wasn’t always the rear, but it “retired to the rear.” #HeatNation pic.twitter.com/vaG2luvvrg

— Zachary Weinberger (@ZachWeinberger) December 28, 2025

While the injury report lists Adebayo with back pain, it appears the star has been playing with other ailments as well, but this time he has “crept in” in that area. However, it got to the point where Miami and Adebayo decided a break was best in order to land the top version of the 28-year-old.

“She wasn’t always last. She just crept back,” Adebayo said

“It’s the NBA,” Adebayo continued. “Guys are always trying to get through things. And when they can’t, you sit back and rest.”

However, Adebayo now looks set to return and lead the way in the turnaround of the season, although Tyler Hero remains out with a toe contusion.

Heat’s Bam Adebayo on the correlation between injuries and personal decline

The injury comes at an intriguing time since The Heat star in Adebayo was in his own slumpas in the last four games he played, he averaged 11.2 points while shooting 37.5 percent from the field. Even looking at his season so far, he’s averaging 18.1 points, which would be his lowest since his third season in the NBA, and is shooting a career-low 46.6 percent.

While Adebayo doesn’t want to make excuses, he would tell ClutchPoints that the correlation between his personal decline and injuries goes “hand in hand.” However, he would play down the slump as anything significant, saying: “We’ll work through the lows and get back into the groove.”

“No more shots,” Adebayo said. “I’m not going to make an excuse because I was hurt. … That doesn’t make sense. If I’m healthy enough to play, then I play. So that’s not an excuse. I’ll say it was just shots that weren’t falling. It’s a long season.”

Bam Adebayo would talk about the team making it to the last two, an obvious sentiment since “no one wants to lose.

I would ask him in another video if the nagging injury had anything to do with the fall. I didn’t want to make excuses, but it goes “hand in hand”. #HeatNation pic.twitter.com/kIzGAAcOn4

— Zachary Weinberger (@ZachWeinberger) December 28, 2025

So far, he’s been on the nose as Miami has won its last two games, performing at the level fans saw at the start of the season 14-7, where it wasn’t all that rare to see a team score at least 140 points. Saturday’s outing marked the sixth time this season that the Heat have scored at least 140 points, and the franchise has done so eight times in its history through this year.

Adebayo has expressed how “happy” he is for Miami, and while he hasn’t been out for the past two games, he’s been active in the huddle and communicating extensively while on the bench. Adebayo will return on Monday against the Nuggets as the team looks for its third straight win.