Kristian Winfield: After Bam's 83, the Wizards may be NBA's new scoring lab -- with Knicks up soon

Kristian Winfield, New York Daily News on Mar 11, 2026

By clicking submit, I authorize Arcamax and its affiliates to: (1) use, sell, and share my information for marketing purposes, including cross-context behavioral advertising, as described in our Privacy Policy , (2) add to information that I provide with other information like interests inferred from web page views, or data lawfully obtained from data brokers, such as past purchase or location data, or publicly available data, (3) contact me or enable others to contact me by email or other means with offers for different types of goods and services, and (4) retain my information while I am engaging with marketing messages that I receive and for a reasonable amount of time thereafter. I understand I can opt out at any time through an email that I receive, or by clicking here

NEW YORK — Circle March 22 on your calendars, Knicks fans.

Because if Bam Adebayo can score 83 points against the Washington Wizards, there’s no telling what Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns might do to the most miserable defense the NBA has seen in years — possibly ever in the modern era.

Yes, the Wizards are that bad.

So bad they allowed Adebayo — a player averaging just 18.9 points per game entering Tuesday — to eclipse Kobe Bryant’s famous 81-point performance, the second-highest scoring game in NBA history behind Wilt Chamberlain’s 100.

“I couldn’t believe it when I was first hearing it in real time. He had 30 in the first quarter and got 70. Congratulations to Bam,” said Kevin Durant, whose own career-high of 55 suddenly feels modest in comparison.

“I know how much work he puts in. I looked at the stat sheet. Forty shots. Forty free throws. Twenty threes. That takes a lot of stamina man. It takes a lot of energy to go out there and put those shots up but also make them, set a record and surpass Kobe as the second-highest scoring player in the history of the game. I mean, damn. Congrats to him. Huge, huge accomplishment. It’s something we’re gonna be talking about forever.”

There were no cameras when Chamberlain scored 100 points in 1962, and Bryant’s 81 always felt like a number reserved for the league’s most prolific scorers — Durant, Luka Doncic, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, maybe even one of the Knicks’ own on the right night.

But the Wizards — those 16-48 Wizards — had something else in mind.

And now every player averaging 19 points a night probably believes they can have a career game against a defense that, clearly, will crack under pressure this season.

Of course, there is an elephant in the room.

Adebayo shot 43 free throws and made 36 of them. The Heat never trailed, led by as many as 28 points, and entered the fourth quarter up 113-97. Adebayo played 42 minutes while no other Miami starter logged more than 30.

Head coach Erik Spoelstra and the Heat were complicit in what some critics might call unethical record-breaking: Miami could have comfortably finished the game with Adebayo on the bench.

Instead, history was in reach.

“The first thing you think is ‘how?’ Not because of him but because of the way he plays,” said Houston Rockets head coach Ime Udoka, who played eight games for the Knicks during the 2005-06 season when Bryant scored 81.

“And I saw Bam only made six three, but 40 free throws or something like that? That tells the story right there.

“And the Washington Wizards.”

When Bryant scored 81 against the Toronto Raptors on Jan. 22, 2006, the Los Angeles Lakers trailed by 16 at halftime. Bryant erupted for 55 points in the second half to carry the Lakers to a 122-104 victory.

He shot fewer than half as many free throws as Adebayo (20), and he did it against a Raptors defense that, while hardly elite, was nowhere near as porous as Washington’s current unit. Toronto finished that season 27-55.

History, however, has a short memory.

Two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo said it best: people rarely remember how a record was set.

Only that it happened.

“[Forty-three] free throws? It doesn’t matter how you get it. All that matters is that you got it,” Antetokounmpo said when alerted to Adebayo’s record late Tuesday night. “In 10, 20, 30 years from now, nobody’s gonna remember how many free throws he shot. I don’t think I remember how many shots Kobe shot, or how many free throws or how many threes. All you remember is 81.

“Wilt, [you remember] 100 [points]. You don’t remember [how]. So at the end of the day, [Bam] got 83 points, and did they win? [Yes] Good. Great way to help your team win a game.”

Antetokounmpo delivered those comments just one game before his Milwaukee Bucks were set to face Adebayo’s Heat.

The Knicks, meanwhile, are 11 days away from their next meeting with Washington — a Wizards team they’ve already beaten by 31 and 17 points this season.

New York swept the Wizards 4-0 last year.

On Dec. 28, 2024, Brunson — whose career high is 61 points against the San Antonio Spurs — dropped 55 in a win in Washington. Towns has six 40-point games in a Knicks uniform, though only one of them has come this season.

Earlier this year, seven Knicks scored in double figures against Washington. None scored more than 23.

Given what Adebayo just did, that approach may feel overly polite. Because right now, the Wizards are doing something no team wants to be remembered for:

They’re turning every opposing star into a scoring opportunist — and every game into a record chase.