Inside the numbers: Bam Adebayo’s 83 points, and some of the records that were set

By Canadian Press on March 10, 2026.

MIAMI (AP) — A look inside the numbers from Bam Adebayo’s 83-point game for the Miami Heat on Tuesday night, the second-highest total in NBA history:

83 points

Start with the obvious one. Only Wilt Chamberlain with his 100-point game is now ahead of Adebayo on the NBA single-game list.

Kobe Bryant — Adebayo’s idol — had the No. 2 spot, with 81 points.

“It speaks volumes for his hard work,” Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo said. “I know Bam. He works his butt off every single day. He never cheats the game. Seeing a guy like him doing something like this is incredible.”

The 40-40 club

Adebayo is the first player in the NBA’s play-by-play era — dating back to the start of the 1996-97 season — to have 40 points in both halves of a game.

He had 43 points in the first, 40 in the second.

The closest anyone has come to that in the last 30 years is Luka Doncic, who had 41 in the first and 32 in the second for Dallas against Atlanta on Jan. 26, 2024.

Chamberlain is the only other 40-40 member — barely. He had 41 in the first half of his 100-point game, then 59 more after halftime.

The free throws

Adebayo made 36 free throws and took 43, both of which are NBA single-game records.

Chamberlain made 28 on the night that he scored 100, March 2, 1962, in Hershey, Pennsylvania for Philadelphia against New York. Utah’s Adrian Dantley also made 28 free throws, in Las Vegas, against Houston on Jan. 4, 1984.

The record for free throws attempted was 39, done twice, both times by Dwight Howard. He took that many for Orlando against Golden State on Jan. 12, 2012 — then did it again for the Los Angeles Lakers, against Orlando, on March 12, 2013.

The 3-pointers

Adebayo attempted 22 3-pointers, making him the seventh player in NBA history to try that many in a game.

The others with at least that many: James Harden has done it four times and Stephen Curry twice, while Damian Lillard, Marcus Smart, J.R. Smith and Klay Thompson all did it once. Thompson has the record for attempts in a game with 24, done for Golden State on Oct. 29, 2018, against Chicago.

Thompson had a record 14 made 3s that night as well.

For perspective, Adebayo averaged — averaged! — 15 3-point attempts per season over his first seven years in the league.

43 shots

Adebayo’s 43 field goal attempts wasn’t even a season-high in the NBA. Cade Cunningham took 45 in a game for Detroit on Nov. 10.

Scoring average

In one night, Adebayo’s average went from 18.9 to 20.0 points per game.

Heat records

Among the many Heat regular-season records that Adebayo set on Tuesday night:

— Most points in a quarter (31, previous was LeBron James with 25).

— Most points in a first half (43, previous was 31 by James, Dwyane Wade and Sherman Douglas).

— Most points in a second half (40, previous was 37 by James).

— Most shots in a game (43, previous was 39 by Wade).