Spoelstra: ‘I apologize to absolutely no one’ over Bam Adebayo’s 83-point game

MIAMI (AP) — Erik Spoelstra had a very clear message to those who didn’t like how the final minutes of Bam Adebayo’s 83-point game played out.

Put simply, the Miami Heat coach doesn’t care.

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“I apologize to absolutely no one,” Spoelstra said Thursday. “Period.”

Adebayo’s 83-point game — now the No. 2 single-game total in NBA history, 17 behind Wilt Chamberlain’s 100 and two ahead of Kobe Bryant’s 81 — was one unlike any other. The Heat center took 43 shots in a 150-129 win on Tuesday over the Washington Wizards, made an NBA-record 36 free throws and had an NBA-record 43 tries from the foul line.

And the last few minutes were a circus, with the Wizards as much as quadruple-teaming Adebayo — who was still getting the ball — and the Heat fouling Washington players on four occasions in the final moments to extend the game and get their center more opportunities to score.

Lost in the hubbub about the final minutes, Spoelstra insisted, is this: Adebayo had 31 points in the first quarter, 43 by halftime, 62 through three quarters, 70 with 9:05 left and 77 with 3:26 remaining. The first instance of Miami fouling to get the ball back for Adebayo was with 1:40 left.

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“There was a moment, and when there’s a moment in time like that, it’s carpe diem,” Spoelstra said, using the Latin term for “seize the day.” “You have to go for it, and that was just thrilling. And I’m honored that we were all able to be a part of it.”

A handful of coaches around the NBA — including the Los Angeles Clippers’ Tyronn Lue and Denver’s David Adelman among them — have indicated they had no problem with the Heat using the final minutes to help add to what was already an enormous point total.

Adelman said Adebayo is as good of a professional as there is in the league, and to take a night “and go a little bit crazy” was entertaining.

“He made the extra pass in the fourth quarter when he had 60. He blocked a shot. He was still playing the game,” Adelman said. “When you get to 70, I’m sorry, man, like all bets are off. … I thought it was really cool.”

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Wizards coach Brian…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/spoelstra-apologize-absolutely-no-one-232552053.html

Author : TIM REYNOLDS

Publish date : 2026-03-12 23:25:00

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