Heading into Tuesday night, Wilt Chamberlain and Kobe Bryant were the only two players in NBA history to ever score at least 80 points in a single game. They now have company.
Miami Heat center Bam Adebayo erupted for a career-high 83 points to sneak past Bryant on the all-time list. He's now the author of the second-highest scoring game in NBA history, trailing only Wilt's iconic 100-point game. Prior to Tuesday, Adebayo had never scored more than 41 points in a game.
Bam Adebayo's 83-point monster night
Adebayo's 83 points came on 20-of-43 shooting overall, 7-of-22 from deep and an NBA-record 36-of-43 from the free-throw line. He erupted for 31 points in the first quarter alone and had 43 points at halftime, which is when he said he knew something special might be in the making.
Dwight Howard previously held the record the most free-throw attempts in a single game at 39, which he did twice. Adebayo broke his record by four attempts. Here's where Bam's 83-point game stacks up in NBA history:
Most points scored in an NBA game
Players | Season | PTS | FG | 3FG | FT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Wilt Chamberlain | 1961-62 | 100 | 36-63 | 0-0 | 28-32 |
Bam Adebayo | 2025-26 | 83 | 20-43 | 7-22 | 36-43 |
Kobe Bryant | 2005-06 | 81 | 28-46 | 7-13 | 18-20 |
Wilt Chamberlain | 1961-62 | 78 | 31-62 | 0-0 | 16-31 |
Wilt Chamberlain | 1961-62 | 73 | 29-48 | 0-0 | 15-25 |
Wilt Chamberlain | 1962-63 | 73 | 29-43 | 0-0 | 15-19 |
Luka Dončić | 2023-24 | 73 | 25-33 | 8-13 | 15-16 |
David Thompson | 1977-78 | 73 | 28-38 | 0-0 | 17-20 |
Wilt Chamberlain | 1962-63 | 72 | 29-48 | 0-0 | 14-18 |
Elgin Baylor, Damian Lillard, Donovan Mitchell and David Robinson each scored 71 once, while Devin Booker, Joel Embiid and Chamberlain each had 70 once. That means the fraternity of 70-point scorers was at 10 heading into Tuesday. Adebayo made it 11.
How Adebayo got to 83 points
His barrage against the tanking Wizards began in the first quarter, when he had 31 points on 10-of-16 shooting, including 5-of-8 from deep. He chipped in 12 more points in the second quarter courtesy of seven trips to the free-throw line.
At that point, the Heat were up 76-62. They busted the game open in the third quarter, briefly leading by 27, but the Wizards went on a late charge to trim their deficit to 16 heading into the fourth.
Had the Heat maintained a 25-point lead, Adebayo's record night might have been over after the third quarter. At that point, he was sitting on 62 points on 17-of-35 shooting overall, 6-of-16 from deep and 22-of-27 from the charity stripe.
Instead, he stayed in at the start of the fourth quarter and continued his rampage. Adebayo shot only 3-of-8 overall and 1-of-6 from deep in the fourth quarter, but he still managed to rack up 21 points by going 14-of-16 from the free-throw line. He scored his final seven points on free throws with the Heat up by 20-plus points the entire time.
Yes, it was shameless stat-padding. No, absolutely no one should care.
A guy whose previous career high was 41 points exploding for the second-highest-scoring game in NBA history on a random Tuesday night is exactly why we fall in love with the NBA in the first place. The defensive effort from the tanking Wizards deserves its fair share of the credit as well, but Adebayo took full advantage of them from the opening whistle and didn't let up as the game went on.
Adebayo opened the fourth quarter with two free throws and a three-pointer to get him to 67 points with 10:43 left in the game. At that point, everyone in the stadium knew who was getting force-fed the ball from that point forward.
Adebayo added an and-one with nine minutes left to get to 70, but he didn't score again for another three minutes. He bricked a three-pointer and three straight free-throw attempts before knocking down his fourth. From that point forward, all but two of his final 12 points came from the charity stripe.
For those who missed Adebayo's career night in real time, the NBA already threw together the highlights:
Adebayo is arguably the most unexpected member of the NBA's 70-point club, as the others were mostly dominant scoring centers or some of the highest-volume combo guards or 2-guards in league history. Thanks to this game alone, his full-season scoring average jumped from 18.9 points to 20.0.
Even with the caveat that he did it against the tanktastic Wizards, Adebayo treated NBA fans to an unforgettable night Tuesday. The history books won't have any context about how bad this year's Wizards are, thankfully.