Bam! Heat's Adebayo scores 83 points, second most ever in NBA game
Bam!
Miami Heat’s star center made history with his performance vs. the Washington Wizards on Tuesday night, scoring 83 points. It’s the second most in a single NBA game, surpassing Kobe Bryant’s previous total of 81.
Miami beat Washington 150-129 at home as Adebayo shot 20 of 43 overall, including a 7 of 22 clip from deep. He went 36 of 43 from the foul line. He averaged 4.8 free throws a game entering Tuesday.
Here’s the moment Adebayo broke the mark, which occurred late in the fourth quarter as head coach Erik Spoelstra kept his big man on the court:
He added nine rebounds, three assists, two steals and two blocks to his stat line across 42 minutes.
The only player to score more than Adebayo, the No. 14 overall pick by Miami in 2017, is Wilt Chamberlain’s infamous 100-point game. That occurred in 1962.
Bryant’s 81-point game happened in January of 2006, where he led a 122-104 win over the Toronto Raptors. Bryant shot 28 of 46 overall, 7 of 13 from deep and made 18 of 20 free throws.
Adebayo opened the first quarter with 31 points to set the pace for himself. He finished the half with 43 and didn’t appear to let any negative momentum halt his progress. His previous career high was 41, which he set against the Brooklyn Nets on Jan. 23, 2021.
His season high was 32, which he passed at the 5:53 mark of the second quarter. His first quarter was the most by a player since Karl-Anthony Towns dropped 32 for the Minnesota Timberwolves against the San Antonio Spurs on March 14, 2022.
Miami improved to 37-29 on the season and are on a little run as of late, while Washington dropped to 16-48 in the race for the coveted top pick in this year’s draft.
Adebayo’s starting teammates this game were Davion Mitchell, Kasparas Jakucionis, Pelle Larsson and Myron Gardner. Tyler Herro, Norman Powell, Kel’el Ware and Nikola Jovic were out. Simone Fontecchio dropped 18 off the bench while reigning dunk contest champion Keshad Johnson had eight.
For all of the guesses on who could’ve passed Bryant’s longstanding mark, it now belongs to someone no one saw coming. And that’s why it’s called “bam!”
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