Concerns about the effectiveness of the Giannis Antetokounmpo-Bam Adebayo pairing have been alleviated. They each scored 37 points in a 133-121 win over Cleveland on Friday.

“We’re making progress in trust. We need to keep doing our work quietly, humbly,” Antetokounmpo said, per Cameron Wolfe of ESPN. “There’s still a lot of work to be done. We’re not even close. Still a lot of work to be done.”

The Heat have reached the .500 mark after an 0-4 start.

“Bam and Giannis, they are supposed to carry us with their force. Will the stat line always look like that? I don’t know,” coach Erik Spoelstra said. “That’s a lot of force that they’re putting on the opponent in the paint. They’re both playing with confidence and when they get to their spots, but it was a force and physicality that the opponent has to feel when those two guys are on the floor. That’s our advantage.”

Here’s more from the Southeast Division:

• Jalen Suggs came off the bench on Friday in his first game after recovering from a right knee bone bruise. Suggs, who hadn’t played since Oct. 25, went 1-for-8 from the field. Magic coach Sean Sweeney offered this explanation of why Suggs came off the bench. “Just trying to make sure that we managed the game,” Sweeney said, per Jason Beede of the Orlando Sentinel (Twitter link). “(We) talked a little bit before the game about with certain guys when they come back from injury, they’re trying to manage it, making it a 40-minute game instead of a 48-minute game.”
• Tim Hardaway Jr.’s minutes with the Heat have diminished. He saw 20 minutes of action on Friday, though he contributed just four points, but only played 18 minutes combined in his three previous appearances. Hardaway, who joined Miami on a one-year, $6.1MM deal, didn’t play at all on Tuesday against Utah. “I’ve been on three different teams, three different years,” Hardaway told the Miami Herald’s Anthony Chiang. “I’ve been able to adapt anywhere I went, everywhere I go. So, just another step in the direction that I need to get to, to process things and get ready. And I know what I can do to help the team win.”
• Trae Young signed a four-year, $212MM extension with the Wizards in June. He flashed some of his old All-Star form on Thursday, piling up 37 points and 14 assists in a double overtime loss to Detroit. “It’s what I do,” Young told Josh Robbins of The Athletic. “I was never worried about it. I’m not fazed about what I’ve been doing early on in the season. I’m … more focused on our wins and losses, and for me, just putting ourselves in winning situations. And I don’t think I did a good enough job in the road games of putting us in winning situations.”