MIAMI — For hours, days, even weeks, Bam Adebayo found himself battling the asterisk when it came to a breakout performance against the enthused-to-lose Washington Wizards, with his 83 points in that March 10 matchup.

And now, even more Miami Heat statistics to measure through the prism of a Wizards team focused on winning by losing, with Saturday’s 152-136 defeat sending Washington to its 21st loss in its last 22 games.

This time it was a 24-point, 19-rebound, seven-block  breakout by second-year center Kel’el Ware, the type of numbers that would stand as particularly heartening just a week before the start of the Heat’s postseason.

Except, again, it came against the Wizards, with Ware afforded the opportunity to play 35:49 after being held to 15 or fewer minutes the previous three games.

So a meaningful step forward, or the type of empty calories some perceived with Adebayo’s 83-point breakout?

“We’ve had three practices in the last ten days. And I would venture to say that these are the three best practices this year,” coach Erik Spoelstra said of Ware’s recent work away from the games. “And those were coming off of some tough games against tough competition. A lot of that was being fed through a firehose, playing against good teams that are playing at a high level and things not necessarily going the way he wanted them to.

“But he’s really been intentional of trying to get better at some things, his technique, getting his hands up.”

Yes, something that simple unlocking the playing time.

“Hands up,” Spoelstra said, “that gets him in a better position to now react to blocking shots or making plays on the ball.”

So seven blocked shots against the Wizards, tying his career high (the initial box score showed eighth, but was later updated upon standard review).

“Get both hands up,” Spoelstra said. “But he’s drilling on it, he’s working on it, he’s watching film on it. He wants to get better at it.”

Of course, it also was against the Wizards.

Next up are the Toronto Raptors, a bigger team with bigger goals than lottery combinations.

So all Spoelstra asks is Ware back up Saturday’s performance, with matchups Tuesday and Thursday night’s in Toronto.

“Now,” Spoelstra said, “the next challenge will be doing it against a physical team on the road. And I’m looking forward to seeing him respond.”

In other words, the familiar Spoelstra-Ware push-pull continues, Spoelstra pushing Ware for more, or pulling his minutes.

Ware said the recent practices allowed him to recalibrate.

“It comes to just putting in the reps, just working on and emphasizing going to go block shots,” Ware said, “just being a force on the defensive end to help our team.

“He wants more from me, better from me. He just wants to see me perform at a higher level.”

No matter the opposition, Ware said the minutes are embraced.

“It always feels good to go out there, you know, hoop freely and be able to help us win.”

Saturday’s double-double was Ware’s career-best 24th of the season and second in two games against the Wizards. It was his eighth 20-point game this season. In his two appearances against Washington this season, he is averaging 21.5 points and 16.5 rebounds.

While many question Ware’s playing time, more specifically the lack thereof, Adebayo knows some of those decisions come based on what is delivered on the practice court.

To that end, Adebayo said it was apparent that Ware was poised for Saturday’s two-way breakout.

“I would say he’s just been truly engaged,” the Heat captain said. “Obviously, you’ve seen he had what, seven blocks, eight blocks?  That was a crazy stat line. But you can see what he can do.

“He can get eight, nine blocks in the game, probably even ten if he really goes for it. So, with that being said, he’s been really locked in. We need that version of Kel’el if we’re going to do something special or attempt at doing something special.”