Bam Adebayo is still making the case that his 83-point night could have been even bigger, and he’s not shy about why.
The Miami Heat big man recently appeared on the Makeshift Podcast and said he was there to “break his silence on his 83-point game,” then delivered the kind of quote only a player with that kind of night can get away with:
"I had 83 on a bad shooting night… I would've passed Wilt. People were like 'you shot 43 free throws', if you actually watch the game and not the last minute and a half… I got fouled the whole game.”
That’s a wild sentence on its face, but the numbers back up at least part of Bam’s point. In the 83-point game, he finished 20-for-43 from the field, 7-for-22 from three, 13-for-21 from inside the arc, and 36-for-43 at the line.
Those shooting splits aren’t exactly pretty, especially for a night that produced 83 points. But they also weren’t miles off what Adebayo did last season, when he shot 44.2% from the field and 32.8% from three. Even so, his career numbers are stronger than what he put up in that game: 52.2% from the field, 31.6% from three, 54.4% from two, and 76% from the free-throw line.
A lot of the damage from two came around the rim, too. Adebayo has hit 72.4% of his career looks from 0-3 feet, so 62% from two in that game still fits in the “very good” category even if a few misses at the basket kept it from being a cleaner shooting night.
The foul line argument is harder to push back on. Bam was more aggressive than ever, and he earned a ton of those attempts.
By the fourth quarter, he was dealing with multiple defenders hounding and hacking him, or watching a teammate get intentionally fouled instead. The Wizards clearly did not want to be the team remembered for allowing 83.
And that’s why the idea that he might have passed Wilt Chamberlain that night doesn’t sound nearly as far-fetched as it should.
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