Bam Adebayo’s 83 points turned a regular-season game into one of the most historic nights the NBA has ever seen, as the Miami Heat beat the Washington Wizards 150-129 on March 10, 2026.
The performance set a Miami franchise record and became the second-highest single-game scoring total in NBA history, behind only Wilt Chamberlain’s 100-point game.
Adebayo finished 20-of-43 from the field, 7-of-22 from three-point range, and 36-of-43 from the free-throw line. ESPN and AP reported that his 83-point outburst moved past Kobe Bryant’s 81-point game from 2006 and placed him alone in second place on the league’s all-time single-game scoring list.
83 POINTS FOR BAM ADEBAYO.
THE SECOND-MOST EVER.
Wilt: 100
Bam: 83
Kobe: 81 pic.twitter.com/5AxI6j8m35
— NBA (@NBA) March 11, 2026The Heat star set the tone immediately. He scored 31 points in the first quarter, then reached 43 by halftime as Miami built control against Washington. By the final buzzer, his scoring burst had rewritten both franchise and league history.
The night was remarkable not just for volume, but also for efficiency and pressure on the defence. Adebayo’s 36 made free throws became a key part of the performance, while his scoring across all four quarters kept the Wizards from recovering.
The game also added to Adebayo’s standing as the centrepiece of the Heat. Before this explosion, he was already averaging 18.9 points per game in the 2025-26 season. However, this performance led to a different conversation, producing the most explosive scoring night in the NBA in decades.
For Miami, the win mattered in the standings. Yet the lasting image will be Adebayo walking off after a night that immediately joined the most famous scoring performances the sport has ever seen.
