Washington Wizards coach Brian Keefe certainly did not seem to be in the mood to congratulate Bam Adebayo after the Miami Heat center dropped 83 points on his team Tuesday night.
Keefe was dismissive of the circumstances that led to Adebayo’s performance when speaking after the Heat’s 150-129 win over Washington at Kaseya Center in Miami, Fla. The Wizards coach questioned some of the fourth quarter foul calls that put Adebayo on the line, and outright said the final quarter barely resembled a real basketball game.
“They obviously kept him in the game, and there was a lot of foul calls. 16 free throws in the fourth quarter,” Keefe said. “Just trying to take the ball out of his hands. He still got some free throws 40 feet from the rim. I can’t explain some of those calls. That’s all I’ve got to say on that.
“The fourth quarter just turned into not a real basketball game. We gotta be better with our ball security and we’ve gotta own the fact that we let this guy get hot. That’s on us.”
Brian Keefe on Bam Adebayo’s 83 points:
— Greg Finberg (@GregFinberg) March 11, 2026
“They kept him in the game and there were a lot of foul calls — 16 free throws in the fourth quarter. [We were] just trying to take the ball out of his hands.”
“The fourth quarter just turned into not a real basketball game.” pic.twitter.com/t33Goer7Rl
Keefe was happy to credit Adebayo for the first three quarters, which saw the center post 62 points. In the fourth, Adebayo added 21 more, with 14 of them coming at the free throw line. Of course, part of the reason Adebayo got to the line so much is that the Wizards resorted to double- and even triple-teaming him at times to try to get the ball out of his hands and prevent him from adding to his points total.
Obviously, no coach wants to be on the receiving end of a game like this. Keefe will have no trouble finding someone who sympathizes with him. Essentially tossing out the entire fourth quarter just makes him sound like he’s bitter.
Keefe is in his second full season as head coach of the Wizards. He has gone 42-143 in 185 games.
