Forty-three field goal attempts. Thirty-six made free throws. Eighty-three points!?
Miami Heat big man Bam Adebayo on Tuesday night put up the second-highest-scoring game in NBA history, passing Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant, who famously scored 81 on Jan. 22, 2006, against the Toronto Raptors. Adebayo’s epic performance still trails Wilt Chamberlain’s 100-point game, however.
Adebayo’s full stat line in the Heat’s 150-129 win over the Washington Wizards: 83 points, nine rebounds, three assists, two steals, two blocks. He hit seven 3-pointers on 22 attempts and scored 43 points in the first half — which topped his previous full-game career high of 41.
Adebayo set records for most free throws made (36) and attempted (43) in an NBA game, and the Heat franchise records for most points in a quarter (31), half (43) and game (83). His record-setting night came 12 years and one week after LeBron James set the previous Heat record with 61 points against the then-Charlotte Bobcats.
Here’s a closer look at Adebayo’s amazing night, with an assist from ESPN Research:
By the numbers: Bam Adebayo’s 83-point night
• Prior to Tuesday night’s game, Adebayo’s career high was 41 points. The total from his two highest-scoring games (41 and 38) was less than the 83 he scored against the Wizards.
• There have been 11 games this season in which a team failed to score at least 83 points, most recently last week when Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks lost to the Boston Celtics 108-81.
• Adebayo is the 11th different player in NBA history to score at least 70 points in a game. The other 10: Chamberlain (six times), Bryant, Luka Doncic, David Thompson, Damian Lillard, Donovan Mitchell, David Robinson, Elgin Baylor, Joel Embiid and Devin Booker.
• He is the first player with a 60-point game this season. Nikola Jokic had been the last player with a 60-point game, scoring 61 in a double-overtime loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves in April.
• Adebayo, however, is the 12th different player to score at least 50 points in a game this season. The record for most 50-point scorers in a season is 14, done in both 2021-22 and 2022-23.
• Adebayo scored 62 points through three quarters, the most by any player since Bryant had 62 on Dec. 20, 2005, vs. the Dallas Mavericks (when he famously outscored Dallas 62-61 through three quarters before sitting out the fourth).
• Adebayo had 31 points in the first quarter, the most in the opening frame since Kevin Love had 34 in the first quarter for the Cleveland Cavaliers against the Portland Trail Blazers in 2016.
• He is the first player in Heat history to attempt 40 field goals in a game. Adebayo’s 43 field goal attempts are the most for a player in a non-overtime game since Bryant attempted 50 shots in the final game of his career in 2016.
• Adebayo joins Chamberlain as the only players in NBA history with 20 made field goals and 25 made free throws in a game.
• Before Tuesday’s game, the Heat’s season high in free throws made this season was 36 — on Nov. 10 vs. the Cavaliers. Adebayo made 36 free throws Tuesday night.
• He is the first player in NBA history to make 25 free throws and five 3-pointers in a game.
• Adebayo shot 20-of-43 from the field. He is the first player in NBA history to score at least 70 points while making less than 50% of his shots.
