When Bam Adebayo poured in a career-high 41 points in the first half of the Miami Heat's Finals win over the Washington Wizards, fans had a pretty good idea they were going to see something special after halftime of an otherwise unimportant Tuesday night performance.
As each Bam bucket went in, the game became more exciting, with the all-time Heat records of franchise legends like Dwyane Wade and LeBron James weakening until only one, Wilt Chamberlain's 100-point game, remained.
While Adebayo wasn't able to reach that seemingly impossible 100-point mark, he finished second behind Kobe Bryant with 83, leading one of the "Black Mamba's" all-time rivals, Dirk Nowitzki, to celebrate the occasion with a special social media post.
83?????
-Dirk Nowitzki (@swish41) 11 March 2026
A prolific scorer in his own right, going over 50 several times, including a career-high 53 against the Houston Rockets, Nowitzki was clearly excited to see another big man turn in such an impressive effort from across the court, with Adebayo finishing the contest by shooting 20-24 from the field, 7-22 from beyond the arc and 36-43 from the free throw line in 42 minutes of action.
Will Adebayo ever score this many points in an NBA game again? Given that there have only been two other 80-point scorers in the last 70 years, this seems unlikely. But then again, who expected a random Tuesday night to center around a player scoring 83? Adebayo now finds himself in NBA history, and considering the players he's among, that's a pretty good place to be.
