Bam Adebayo has been the talk of the town after owning the second-highest scoring game in NBA history after recording 83 points in a 150-129 win for the Miami Heat over the Washington Wizards on Tuesday night. Adebayo is a career 16 points per game scorer, averaging just under 19 for the season entering Tuesday night, making him a fairly unlikely player to surpass Kobe Bryant's 81-point masterclass.
But amid all the celebration of Adebayo's historic effort, there are some who are putting the game under the microscope. Some are downplaying the 83-point night because it came against the hapless Wizards, a team that never stopped fouling Adebayo (Adebayo took 43 free throws and made 36 of them).
Houston Rockets head coach Ime Udoka wondered how Adebayo, who is not one of the best scorers of all in the NBA, can score 83 – Which says a lot about the Wizards defense.
"The first thing you think of is, not because of him, but because of the way he played. I saw he only made six threes but 40 free throws or something like that, that tells the story right there... and the Washington Wizards," Udoka said in his postgame presser via @big_business_ on Twitter.
Ime Udoka on Bam Adebayo's 83-point night:
"The first thing you think about is how ... not because of him but because of the way he plays. I saw he only made 6 threes but 40 free throws or something, that tells the story right there and ... the Washington Wizards." pic.twitter.com/PScqMKHBPv
- Ahmed/The Ears/IG: bigbizthegod 🇸🇴 (@big_business_) 11 March 2026
(Contrary to what Udoka said, Adebayo made seven threes.)
Wizards' defense was really suspect in Bam Adebayo's 83-point night
Adebayo deserves all the credit in the world for all the buckets he made. He went 20-43 from the field and made 36 free throws. But how did the Wizards allow the Heat star to take so many free throws in the first place?
They couldn't get possession on Adebayo all night, and even in the fourth quarter, they were hacking him almost every time they got the ball. Adebayo deserves all the praise, but the Wizards also deserve their fair share of jokers for their stellar defensive performance.
