MIAMI (AP) — Bam Adebayo scored 31 points in the first quarter against the Washington Wizards on Tuesday night, breaking the Miami Heat’s single-quarter scoring record and tying the team’s first-half scoring record before the second quarter.
He made 10 of 16 shots from the field, 6 of 7 from the free throw line, and 5 of 8 from three-point range.
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Adebayo had the highest-scoring quarter in the NBA since Karl-Anthony Towns scored 32 points in the third quarter of Minnesota’s game against San Antonio on March 14, 2022.
In addition to Towns and now Adebayo, only three players have scored at least 31 points in a quarter in the past 30 seasons.
— Klay Thompson set the NBA single-quarter scoring record with 37 points in the third quarter of the Golden State Warriors’ game against the Sacramento Kings on January 23, 2015.
— On November 23, 2016, Kevin Love scored 34 points in the first quarter of Cleveland’s game against Portland.
——On December 10, 2008, Carmelo Anthony scored 33 points in the third quarter of Denver’s game against Minnesota.
The Heat’s previous single-quarter scoring record was 25 points set by LeBron James in Cleveland on March 18, 2014. James scored 25 points in the only quarter in Heat history, part of his franchise-record 61 points against Charlotte on March 3, 2014.
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Before Tuesday, Adebayo had never scored more than 19 points in a quarter. The 31 points tied him for the 13th highest-scoring game of his career and were 10 points higher than his career-best 41 points on January 23, 2021 in Brooklyn.
Entering Tuesday, Adebayo had a season-high 32 points. He tied that number with a free throw with 5:53 left in the second quarter, breaking the Heat’s first-half scoring record.
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