Heat must weather storm in this area amid Bam Adebayo's absence - Hot Hot Hoops

Miami Heat (Mandatory Credit: Sam Navarro-Imagn Images)

While they were already navigating the start of the 2025-26 season without Tyler Herro (foot), the Miami Heat lost star center Bam Adebayo, the most important player on their roster, to a toe sprain this week.

There’s still a lack of clarity on how long the three-time All-Star will be sidelined. Adebayo was seen with a walking boot during Friday’s game against the Charlotte Hornets, so one can assume that he’ll miss at least 1-2 weeks. I’m not a doctor, so I digress.

Nevertheless, because of their lack of big man depth, the Heat cannot afford to be without Adebayo for an extended period of time. And when he is out, they have to clean up their struggles in one specific area: Defensive rebounding.

Heat must do a better job on the defensive glass:

The Miami Heat have consistently been one of the best defensive rebounding teams in the sport over the last decade.

Entering 2025-26, Miami ranked in the top-6 in defensive rebound percentage in five of the last six years. It has only ranked outside of the top-10 just four times since 2014-15, never falling below No. 18.

However, the Heat have struggled to corral boards on the defensive glass this year — where they rank No. 17 in defensive rebounding rate. They will also be without their most impactful defensive rebounder in Adebayo.

The 6-foot-9 big man is not only elite at boxing other big men out, but he’s a very good out-of-area rebounder for his size. His impact on the glass goes far beyond the box score, where he’s averaged 9.7 rebounds (7.4 defensive rebounds) per game since becoming a full-time starter in 2019-20.

With Adebayo on the court, the Heat haul in 75.1 percent of their defensive rebounds, ranking in the 86th percentile, according to Cleaning The Glass. Without their star big, that number craters to 64.1 percent (4th percentile). That 11 percent on-off difference in DRB% ranks in the 99th percentile.

Miami will inevitably need more from Kel’el Ware, who’s struggled to box opposing bigs out; regardless of whether he grabs six rebounds or 16, he leaves extra ones on the table despite having good hands with improved out-of-area rebounding capabilities.

The Heat will need more from Nikola Jovic, a poor rebounder for his size; they will need as much as they can from Jaime Jaquez Jr., Andrew Wiggins, Norman Powell and Pelle Larsson, among others.

Miami may have the fifth-best defense in the NBA, but it can’t win games if it isn’t closing out defensive possessions. Attacking the glass is essential to winning games; rebounding wins championships. It’s one of the most fundamentally underrated aspects of winning.

And they are going to be tested right away with the Portland Trail Blazers, one of the best offensive rebounding teams in the league with functional size all over the hardwood.

Heat must weather storm in this area amid Bam Adebayo’s absence – Hot Hot Hoops

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