3 Heat players that need to step up for Miami to turn around series

2. Bam Adebayo

Bam Adebayo had an okay Game 1. While the center did score 9 points in 41 minutes, he made up for it with 12 rebounds, 5 assists and 3 steals. But for Game 2, Adebayo similarly couldn’t put it all together.

Sure, Adebayo did score 16 points on 11 shots (6-for-9 on free throws), but he turned the ball over a team-high four times while clinching a plus-minus of minus-18. Adebayo only grabbed 3 rebounds on the night, though part of that can be attributed to the Bucks making 22 three-point shots.

If the Heat want to get back in the series, they need a stronger performance from Adebayo in Game 3.

1. Jimmy Butler

Jimmy Butler was big in the clutch for the Heat in Game 1. He hit the game-tying layup late in the fourth quarter to send it to overtime, despite shooting 4-for-22 from the floor. Even so, Butler played hero and notched a double-double (17 points, 10 rebounds).

On Monday night, Butler was once again less than effective when on the court. Through 32 minutes, Butler scored 10 points (4-for-10 shooting from the field), tallied 4 assists, grabbed 2 rebounds and recorded 2 steals. And Butler ended the game with a plus/minus of … minus-34. Yikes.

The Heat need Butler to play like he did in last year’s playoffs, where he averaged 22.2 points, 6.5 rebounds and 6.0 assists through 21 games and shot 48.8 percent from the field. If the Heat want to at least even up the series, they need the Walt Disney World bubble version of Butler to show up on Thursday.