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Bam Adebayo had 14.5 percent of his made free throws and 13.5 percent of his attempted free throws for the entire season happen in one night. This is the most fantastical scoring night in NBA history.
Wham, Bam!
How did that 83-point game happen?
Yes, it was against the tanking Wizards. Yes, the Heat fouled at Erik Spoelstra’s instruction multiple times in the final two minutes to either give their big man extra time to surpass 81 points on the night or to give him a little breather because he was gassed. None of that matters. Somebody will try to tell you that it matters and that it cheapened the feat. It does not.
We’ve had hundreds of bad teams go against good-to-great-to-historic players over decades of basketball. Only two players had ever broken 80 points. Only one player had scored more than Kobe Bryant’s 81 points in 2006. Now Adebayo has the second-highest scoring game in NBA history with 83 points. It doesn’t matter in the slightest how he finished the game: 83 points is 83 points.
Before we get to figuring out how he possibly scored 83 points in a basketball game, I’ll remind you of two facts about the other two games that finished north of 80:
- The Warriors were fouling to get the ball back for Wilt Chamberlain to get to 100 points.
- Kobe was still in the game up 15 with less than two minutes left, being fed the ball to keep scoring in a decided game. Including two free throws up 19 with 43 seconds left.
You know how you get games north of 80 points? Stuff like that happens. So of course the Heat found extra opportunities for Bam to make history. Here’s the breakdown of stats you need to know from Bam’s historic night:
- He went 20-of-43 from the field, 7-of-22 from 3 and 36-of-43 from the line.
- He played 42 minutes.
- First quarter: 31 points | Second quarter: 12 | Third quarter: 19 | Fourth quarter: 21
- His 43 free-throw attempts are the most ever. His 36 made free throws are the most ever.
- His 22 3-point attempts were tied for the third most in a game.
- Smush Parker was the second-leading scorer for the Lakers with 13 in Kobe’s game.
- Al Attles was the second-leading scorer for the Warriors with 17 in Wilt’s game.
- Simone Fontecchio was the second-leading scorer for the Heat with 18 in Bam’s game.
Bam’s previous career-highs in these categories were 41 points, 15 field-goal makes, 27 field-goal attempts, six 3-point makes, 13 3-point attempts, 14 free-throw makes and 20 free-throw attempts. Yes, he more than doubled a career-high for scoring, which was already in the 40s. It’s unfathomable on every single level that Adebayo did this, and I was once in the building for Corey Brewer’s 51-point night.
At one point, with 2:56 left in the game and the Heat up 144-119, the refs called a charge on Bam. Spoelstra challenged the call. You may raise an eyebrow or decide to be upset by this. It was the greatest coach’s challenge in NBA history, even though the refs confirmed the call. Why?
At a certain point, this is what it’s all about. The Wizards and Heat turned a random March game into history. You had a memorable, entertaining product, which I’m pretty sure the NBA is still trying to put out there in the stretch run of this season. The Wizards didn’t start really doubling Bam and trying to prevent him from touching the ball until halfway through the fourth quarter. Spo understood the moment and the potential for history, leaving him in. His teammates understood what was happening, and kept trying to get him the ball. That’s how these games happen. Absurdity becomes intention and making sure things get skewed in the history maker’s favor.
There is no dishonorable 83-point game. Just like there wasn’t a dishonorable 81-point or 100-point game. Again, 83 points is 83 points, and only Wilt has scored more than Bam in an NBA game.
The last 24
🏀 Bad news. The 76ers are going to miss Tyrese Maxey, who is dealing with a finger injury. He’s out at least three weeks.
☘️ Good question. Jayson Tatum is back with Boston and John Hollinger is wondering. How good do the Celtics need him to be?
🏀 Victory lap. The NBA canceled the Hawks’ Magic City Night promotion. Luke Kornet is happy.
🏀 Stalemate. The WNBA and its players’ union had a marathon overnight bargaining session. But they failed to come to an agreement.
Stream the NBA on Fubo (try it for free!) and catch out-of-market games on League Pass.
Bam reactions
Here’s how the basketball world responded
I’m not sure how online you are, aside from reading this newsletter, but WNBA superstar A’ja Wilson and Bam are an item! They have been for some time, and she was in Miami for last night’s 83-point performance. We compiled a bunch of reactions from around the league, and we’ll lead off with Wilson’s post on Threads.
Wilson’s career best is 53 points, which had a healthy lead over Bam’s until last night. There’s also a great video of her sitting with him at the podium after the game, and the look she gave when he was describing having to work to get the ball and being covered by four players at one point was pretty funny. Maybe not as funny as Rockets coach Ime Udoka talking about it after he found out in his postgame news conference:
“First thing you think is how, not because of him but because of the way he plays. I saw he only made six 3s but 40 free throws or something like that, tells the story right there.”
Then he paused and said:
“And the Washington Wizards.”
Eric Nehm asked Giannis Antetokounmpo about the night, and this was what the Greek Freak said after he found out about the 36-of-43 from the free-throw line.
“It doesn’t matter how you get there. All that matters is that you got it. Like in 10, 20, 30 years from now, nobody’s going to remember how many free throws he shot. I don’t think I remember how many shots Kobe shot or how many free throws he made or threes. All you remember is 81. Wilt, 100. You don’t remember (how). So, at the end of the day, he got 83 points and did they win?”
What’s hilarious about this night of reactions is that before the Wolves-Lakers game in Los Angeles later on in the evening, Lakers in-arena announcer Lawrence Tanter gave this announcement:
“Ladies and gentlemen, this evening a rather melancholy footnote in NBA history occurred. Miami beat Washington 150-129. Miami forward Bam Adebayo scored 83 points.”
The crowd booed the announcement/event.
As great as Wilson’s reaction was to Bam’s historic performance, Tanter’s is my favorite. The jokes were flying on social media in response to that tone of his. I won’t repost them here because some might be deemed inappropriate. But I’m still laughing about “a rather melancholy footnote” as a phrase. We will absolutely be using that in the future for bad moments in the NBA and sports.
About last night
Spurs win after Jaylen Brown gets tossed
purs 125, Celtics 116: First and foremost, Brown’s first-half ejection was absurd. He wanted a foul call on a play I didn’t think was actually a foul. He argued it, and a referee gave him a tech. Then he kept arguing, and his teammates started trying to diffuse him. That’s when a second official decided to kick him out, which should not be that ref’s call. Brown tweeted out, “This the s— I be talking about.”
After that, we had a fun basketball game without the second-best player between the two teams. Victor Wembanyama ended up with 39 points, going 8-of-15 from deep. He also had 11 boards and a couple of swats. Jayson Tatum had 24 points on 10-of-24 shooting in his third game back, and Derrick White had 34.
Rockets 113, Raptors 99: The Rockets dominated the fourth quarter 27-16 to take control of this, behind 29 points from Kevin Durant and 23 points each from Jabari Smith Jr. and Amen Thompson. They held Brandon Ingram to nine points. Toronto (36-28) is barely holding onto fifth over Miami in the East.
Lakers 120, Wolves 106: Luka Dončić had 31-11-11, and Austin Reaves had 31 of his own as the Lakers swept the season series and moved ahead of Minnesota for fourth place (both are 40-25). The Wolves shot 10-of-40 from deep and had just 45 points from the starters.
Hornets 103, Blazers 101: Brandon Miller had 23 points, and the Hornets survived some late-game execution issues against Portland.
Suns 129, Bucks 114: Devin Booker had 27 points, and Jalen Green had 25 points to survive 33 from Kyle Kuzma and 22 points from Giannis. Phoenix (38-27) is a game behind Denver for sixth in the West, and Milwaukee is now five games out of the Play-In with 18 to play. Hey, Bucks, jump in the Dunk Tank. It’s time.
Let’s head to the Dunk Tank!
- Heat 150, Wizards 129: Yes, we gave you the historic information above, but you need a tank score for Washington’s ninth straight loss. The Wizards get a 20/10.
- Pistons 138, Nets 100: The Pistons got revenge for last week’s loss to Brooklyn, thanks to 21 points and 15 assists for Cade Cunningham. The Nets get a 9/10 tank score.
- Hawks 124, Mavs 112: Nickeil Alexander-Walker had 29 points, and Jalen Johnson had 27 points, seven boards and eight dimes to help the Hawks win their seventh straight. Tank score of 7/10 for Dallas.
- 76ers 139, Grizzlies 129: Cameron Payne had 32 points, 10 assists, three steals and two blocks off the bench. He also had zero turnovers. It’s the first 30-point and 10-assist game with zero turnovers off the bench in NBA history. Tank score of 10/10 for Memphis.
- Bulls 130, Warriors 124 OT: Matas Buzelis had 41 points, and Josh Giddey had a locker combination line of 21 points, 13 rebounds and 17 assists in the overtime win. The Warriors had four players tied with 17 points but went cold in overtime. Tank score of 1/10 for Chicago.
- Kings 114, Pacers 109: Devin Carter played 16 minutes off the bench for the Kings. Twelve of those minutes happened in the fourth quarter when he scored 22 of his 24 points. Tank score of 3/10 for Sacramento and 10/10 for Indiana.