Bam Adebayo Had a Good Game Last Night
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Bam Adebayo did something incredible last night.
The Heat have been a pretty run of the mill franchise since the pandemic. Yes, they made a run to the finals a few years back, where they were crushed in five games by the Nuggets. And they had a similar run to the Finals in The Bubble. Other than that, they've been a play-in team or a team that doesn't get out of the first round of the playoffs. They are in that same position right now. I believe that they're in either 7th or 8th place in the East, with no real sign of making that top 6.
Last night I guess Bam decided he was sick and tired of being an also ran. Granted they were playing the Wizards, but Adebayo's stat line was one for the ages. And I didn't turn on the game until late in the third to watch what was happening. I got an update on my phone that he had 31 points after the first quarter. He outscored the Wizards himself in the quarter. He went into halftime with 42 points and I remember thinking it would be cool if he went for something like 60 or 70 points. Not once in my mind did I think he would eclipse those numbers. Then I saw he had 62 after the third quarter. That was when I figured I had to see what was going to happen. Bam finished the game with 83 points, the second highest single game scoring record in the NBA. He surpassed the 81 Kobe Bryant had over a decade ago. The only player with more in one game is Wilt Chamberlain, who famously scored 100 in a game once.
For this to come from a modern big in the modern NBA is special. Guys like Bam don't score this in any game. Ever. This was wild. I didn't believe it when I saw it. I like Bam Adebayo enough as a player. He is an incredible defensive center. He's also undersized, but he hustles his ass off and plays hard. He is one of the few Kentucky players who I have grown to like in the NBA. I also like how understated and about his business he is when he has interviews or something of the sort. When the game ended I had to go and look at the stat sheet. I needed to see it with my own two eyes to make sure I wasn't dreaming all of this. He shot almost 50 percent from the field, going 20-43. He took far too many threes for my liking, 22, and he made 7 of them. That's a lot for a player like Bam. I have to assume that when he realized he was on fire from the field, he decided he had to start bombing threes. But the biggest stat, the one that made my eyes bulge, he was 36-43 from the free throw line.
I have griped constantly on this site about fouls and free throws, and this stat should be exhibit number one on how bad it has gotten in the NBA. But when I saw this last night I simply didn't care. Sure, he took as many free throws as he did field goals. Yes, he took 14 more free throws than the entire Wizards team. And the Heat took 59 free throws in total. I'm sure this game lasted much, much longer than it needed to, but Bam was in his bag last night. And he made 36 of them. That is amazing, Just imagine if he was 100 percent from the line last as well. He would have had 90 points. And just for good measure, Bam added 9 rebounds and 3 assists. He also chipped in a couple of blocks and steals. And he only committed 3 fouls all game. That is an amazing stat line for a month of a season. Bam did it in one night.
I am just flabbergasted at this whole thing. Stuff like this doesn't happen all the time, and when it is a big man, that makes me so happy. And when it is a guy like Bam Adebayo, it just makes me happy. I can remember being mad when Kobe did it, thinking he was hogging the ball. I couldn't have been more wrong. When a pro is on fire like that, and when they feel almost unconscious from the floor, they need to be fed and they need to shoot as many times as possible.
This game is going to go down in history. Hell, it kind of already has. But people should not forget this game by Bam anytime soon. He scored 83 points. His team won by 30. They may move up the standings. He contributed rebounds, steals, blocks and assists. He embraced his girlfriend and mom after the game. I am so happy that this happened to a good dude like Bam Adebayo. I implore you, go look at his stat line and watch some of the highlights from this game. It was amazing and Bam Adebayo is now in the record books for all time. That's pretty cool.
Ty
Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing, the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast, and the greatest basketball writer on the internet.