The hapless Washington Wizards visit Kaseya Center on Saturday hoping to preserve their 14% odds of securing the top pick in next month’s draft lottery. And if they can hold Bam Adebayo below 83 points, even better!
When the Wizards last visited South Florida on March 10, they were utterly helpless to stop Adebayo from producing the second-highest single game point total in NBA history on a surreal night in which the Heat’s captain scored 31 points in the first quarter and set an NBA record with 36 free throws in 43 attempts.
Wizards coach Brian Keefe suggested after the game that Adebayo was the beneficiary of bad calls and that the Heat didn’t handle the situation properly. Adebayo responded by saying Keefe should be blamed for not sending a second defender at him until he had scored 70.
“In the fourth quarter, it turned into not a real basketball game,” Keefe said, noting that the Heat kept Adebayo in despite a large lead. (Erik Spoelstra said afterward that he apologizes “to absolutely no one.”)
Keefe lamented that Adebayo “got some free throws 40 feet from the rim. I can’t explain some of those calls.” He credited Adebayo’s performance — which topped Kobe Bryant’s 81-point game in 2006 — only for what he did before halftime.
“I give him credit in the first half… He shot the ball terrific,” Keefe said.
Do Keefe’s comments add a chip on his shoulder their rematch Saturday? “No,” Adebayo said, reiterating “it’s their fault” because the Wizards didn’t double team him more or defend him better.
Does he expect more pushback from Washington on Saturday? “Yeah,” he said. “Nobody wants to get 80 dropped on them. Players might go off script and not listen [to Keefe] and try something else.”
One question Saturday is whether the Wizards will be more a lot physical against Adebayo if he gets off to another scorching start.
Spoelstra said Friday he expects a potentially different response from the Wizards, adding “Washington will probably be motivated more so than in a normal game.”
“I’ll be honest; I’m disgusted by the Wizards,” TNT’s Charles Barkley said a day after the 83-point game. “As a competitor, you’ve got to go dirty. When you’re down 20, and the game is over, and now a team is like, ‘Just go for the record,’ you’re disrespecting me.
“He’s so lucky he’s playing in 2026. We would have knocked him on his [butt]. We would’ve killed him back in the day. And I’m not doing any hyperbole or anything. In my day, if you’re up 20 and shooting a three, we’re going to put your [butt] in the stands. That was like an unwritten rule.”
Adebayo – who did much of his damage against Alex Sarr, Will Riley and Tristan Vukcevic – said he’s prepared if the Wizards get physical. “Then I shoot 43 free throws again,” he said.
This and that
Heat guard Norman Powell, who has missed the past three games with an upper respiratory infection, returned to practice Friday but said he won’t play Saturday while he works himself back into game condition. Powell is the only Heat player listed as out for the Wizards game (3 p.m., FanDuel Sports Sun).
“Don’t want to rush it and get a soft tissue injury if my body is not ready,” he said. “I’m going to take the next couple of days to get back in playing shape and get the rust off. Long week of being sick, out of it, fatigue, body aches, not being able to move [or get] out of bed. I feel like I got hit by a semi-truck.
“You can hear I’m congested. It feels good to be back in here and try to get back as soon as possible. Don’t want to rush it and get a soft tissue injury if body is not ready. I’m going to take the next couple of days to get back in playing shape and get the rust off.”
Powell said he’s no longer dealing with back spasms, said missing time with various ailments has been “very frustrating.” He has missed 22 games, with 19 due to injury.
Meanwhile, Andrew Wiggins said the toe injury that sidelined him for eight games recently goes back to a pre-existing condition from his time in Golden State.
▪ One reason that Spoelstra did criticize his team after Wednesday’s 147-129 loss to Boston is his belief that the Heat’s defense wasn’t primarily to blame. Boston made 21 of 44 free throws, and Spoelstra said Friday the Heat contested 84 percent of the Celtics’ three-pointers.
▪ Spoelstra opted for Dru Smith over Kasparas Jakucionis at backup point guard the past two games because “we were playing a little more of zone. Dru is one of our best zone guys. It’s not anything against Kas. I also like Kas out there too. He gives us scoring punch.”
TV news
Per Sports Business Journal, the NBA this week told the 13 teams whose games are carried by going-out-of-business FanDuel network (including the Heat) that they’re free to pursue TV deals for next season, but that the NBA prefers they sign one-year deals because the NBA is positioned to offer a centralized streaming service for most teams beginning in 2027-28.
The Heat’s logical TV options next season are striking an exclusive deal with a streaming service to carry their games; selling games to WPLG-10 or Scripps-39; or doing a combination of both. The Heat says it cannot comment because the NBA doesn’t want teams discussing this publicly. FanDuel’s Heat finale is Sunday, April 12 vs. Atlanta.
Amazon Prime has exclusive rights to all play-in games. ABC, ESPN, NBC, Peacock and Amazon have exclusive rights to all playoff games.
This story was originally published April 3, 2026 at 1:21 PM.
Miami Herald
Barry Jackson has written for the Miami Herald since 1986 and has written the Florida Sports Buzz column since 2002.