Bam Adebayo’s late-game shenanigans in 83-point explosion eerily similar to Devin Booker’s 70 piece

There is no doubting that Bam Adebayo’s 83-point performance for the Miami Heat on March 10 was one of the best individual performances in NBA history. His scoring explosion concluded in him ranking second all-time in single-game scoring, only trailing Wilt Chamberlain’s 100-point game in 1962 in that regard. While monster scoring games have become more commonplace in recent years, it was rare to see players surpass the 60-point threshold after Chamberlain’s playing days were over. After all, the all-time great center scored 60 or more points in 32 of the 92 times it has ever been done.

Of course, Kobe Bryant scored 81 points in 2006, but it wasn’t until Devin Booker’s 70-point performance on March 24, 2017, that extremely high-scoring affairs really started to happen with more regularity. As impressive as Adebayo’s, Booker’s, and many of the other 70-plus point games in recent history were, it is also clear that many of these scoring outputs were a little bit inflated. Late-game shenanigans have resulted in monster scoring performances turning into something else. Adebayo and Booker alike went from playing basketball at the highest-level for much of the game, to then partaking in what some viewed as not really playing real basketball, all in the pursuit of the record books.

Both players in their iconic performances, as well as their respective teams, switched up how they were playing late in the game in order to pursue 70 points (Booker) and in order to surpass Bryant’s scoring mark (Adebayo). So, were these late-game shenanigans worth it?

A look at Devin Booker and Bam Adebayo’s career nights

As mentioned above, back in 2017, such high-scoring games weren’t really as much of a thing as they are now. Booker was a pioneer in that regard when he scored 70 points. Therefore, taking a page out of Chamberlain’s book and drawing a 70 on a piece of paper was warranted. Booker scored 70 as just a 20-year-old in his second season in the league, making him not only the youngest 70-point scorer ever, but the youngest player to surpass the 60-point mark, too.

His Phoenix Suns weren’t very good back then, so Booker had to carry a heavy burden for the team. He wasn’t to blame for Phoenix actually losing that matchup, as the shooting guard truly did everything in his power to try and will his team to victory. Still, it takes a little bit of the glamour out of Booker’s performance knowing that it ended in a relatively decisive loss.

While Booker was having a huge game regardless, a lot of his points didn’t come until the last couple of minutes of the game when it was likely already out of hand. He had 19 points at half and 42 by the end of the third quarter. He then broke the franchise scoring record with 61 points at the 1:49 mark. From there, Booker pursued 70 points with less than two minutes left by jacking up shot after shot. Nobody else on his team was going to attempt to score, even if it meant giving their team a better chance of realistically coming back.

The same stuff was happening in Adebayo’s iconic game. His Heat teammates even went as far as intentionally missing free throws to give Adebayo a potential chance of getting more possessions and shots. Adebayo was also clearly foul-baiting in order to get to the free throw line late in the game. Some would argue that takes away from the prestige and respect of the glorious game of basketball.

Adebayo scored his 79th point to surpass Chamberlain for the third-most points ever with 2:05 left in the game. He tied Bryant with 81 points at the 1:37 mark, and the 82nd and 83rd points to put him in sole possession of the second-highest-scoring game ever came at the 1:16 mark.

While Adebayo was clearly unconscious from everywhere on the floor for the duration of the night, all six of those record-breaking late-game points came from the charity stripe. The Heat also won 150-129 in blowout fashion. While Adebayo would have often been subbed out by that point of garbage time, it has to be applauded that his scoring directly led to a huge win.

Regardless, what Adebayo and Booker did was impressive, however you try to spin it. Nobody else has ever scored 83 points for a reason. Even despite what some would consider borderline unethical play late, both players were clearly having incredible games. If anything, they deserved to etch their names in the record books.

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