MIAMI (AP) — Bam Adebayo had the highest-scoring game of his NBA career Tuesday night.
And he only needed the first half to get there.
Adebayo scored 31 points in the opening quarter against the Washington Wizards, breaking the Miami Heat record for points in any quarter — and tying the team record for points in a first half before the second quarter even started.
He finished the half with 43 points, a team record for any half and two points better than
his previous career high — for a full game, that is — of 41, set Jan. 23, 2021, against Brooklyn.
He was 13 for 24 from the field, 12 for 14 from the foul line and 5 for 11 from 3-point range in the first half.
Adebayo’s season high entering Tuesday was 32. He matched that with a free throw with 5:53 left in the second quarter, breaking the Heat first-half scoring record.
Adebayo had the NBA's highest-scoring quarter — any quarter — since Karl-Anthony Towns had 32 for Minnesota in the third quarter of a game at San Antonio on March 14, 2022.
Besides Towns and now Adebayo, only three other players in the last 30 seasons had at least 31 points in a quarter.
— Klay Thompson had an NBA record for any quarter with 37 for Golden State against Sacramento in the third quarter on Jan. 23, 2015.
— Kevin Love had 34 for Cleveland against Portland in the first quarter on Nov. 23, 2016.
— Carmelo Anthony had 33 for Denver against Minnesota in the third quarter on Dec. 10, 2008.
The previous Heat record for points in a first quarter was 25, done by LeBron James at Cleveland on March 18, 2014. James had the only other 25-point quarter in Heat history, part of his team-record, 61-point game against Charlotte on March 3, 2014.
Before Tuesday, Adebayo had never scored more than 19 points in a quarter.
Adebayo's 43-point first half was the NBA's second-best in at least the last 30 seasons — going back to the start of the digital play-by-play era that began in the 1996-97 season.
Towns had 44 for Minnesota against Charlotte on Jan. 22, 2024.
The NBA record for points in a first half is 53, shared by Denver's David Thompson and San Antonio's George Gervin — who famously did it on the same day, April 9, 1978. That was the final day of that regular season, as those two dueled (albeit in separate games) to decide the league's scoring title.
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