Podcast: Rapid reaction to Bam Adebayo’s injury. And can Heat’s Duncan Robinson be fixed?

The Miami Heat has surged into the title conversation this year with a top-five offense and a top-10 defense, with a wealth of stars and a surprising amount of valuable role players, with a little bit of a new style and a lot of familiar looks.

Now, it’s about to get tough. Bam Adebayo is out for at least the next month after tearing the ulnar collateral ligament in his right thumb. He’ll need surgery and the timeline keep him out of action for about six weeks.

On a hastily recorded segment to lead off a new episode of the Heat Check podcast, David Wilson and Anthony Chiang, the Miami Herald’s Heat beat writer, give their rapid reaction to Adebayo’s injury and provide an early assessment of what Miami might do to survive without its star post player.

The Heat has hovered in a crowded pack near the top of the Eastern Conference all season long and now they’ll have to keep pace with the Brooklyn Nets, Milwaukee Bucks and more through at least the end of 2021 while Adebayo sits out.

Complicating matters is Duncan Robinson’s ongoing slump. The wing’s struggles are the primary focus of the episode after three-point percentage dipped beneath 33 percent Monday in Miami’s loss to the Denver Nuggets. Can Robinson be fixed at this point or is the Heat going to be stuck trying to win without his usual contribution and with him taking up a massive portion of the salary cap? His history suggests he’ll get going at some point and Miami is even getting him easier shots than usual, but patience is wearing thin and the pressure will be on while Adebayo is out.

We wrap things up by talking about the Heat’s defense, which also slipped out of the top five Monday, and letting Chiang vent about the Miami Hurricanes, who are still searching for an athletic director and trying to figure out what they’ll do with coach Manny Diaz.

As always, thanks for listening and please continue to rate, review and subscribe at the Herald Sports feed on Spotify, Apple Music or anywhere podcasts are found.