Big Man Scoring Duel Breaks Out in Wizards' Loss to Heat

Big men from the Miami Heat and Washington Wizards had a historic scoring duel in a blowout loss for the latter.

Mar 10, 2026; Miami, Florida, USA; Washington Wizards center Alex Sarr (20) defends Miami Heat center Bam Adebayo (13) during the first half at Kaseya Center. Mandatory Credit: Rhona Wise-Imagn Images | Rhona Wise-Imagn Images

The Washington Wizards drop to 16–48 on the year following a dominant loss at the hands of the Miami Heat. The Heat were led by forward Bam Adebayo, who had a historic scoring night, dropping the second-most points in NBA history and finishing with 83. Adebayo wasn’t the only one on a roll, however, as Wizards big man Alex Sarr got his licks in as well in just his second game back from injury, scoring 28 points in just 19 minutes of play.

83 POINTS FOR BAM ADEBAYO.

THE SECOND-MOST EVER.

Wilt: 100
Bam: 83
Kobe: 81 pic.twitter.com/5AxI6j8m35

— NBA (@NBA) March 11, 2026

The big man duel was, of course, won by the Heat, as Adebayo was able to double up Sarr in minutes, allowing him to continue along his historic track. But when matched up with Sarr, the battle was fairly even. With that said, a lot had to go right — and a lot had to go wrong — for the score to end up the way it did, leaving plenty of takeaways for Washington following the performance.

Can’t Stop Fouling

Adebayo was masterful as a scorer all night, able to get to his spots and pick his shots at all three levels with ease. However, the biggest reason he was able to rack up as many points as he did was because of the 43 free throws he attempted. The fault for that many trips to the charity stripe lies solely in the hands of the Wizards, as it seemed like anytime he got into an advantageous spot Washington resorted to hacking him and sending him to the line.

It wasn’t just one guy who did it either — every single player who laced up for the Wizards picked up a foul, with eight guys picking up three or more. The refs did play a part with a looser whistle, especially toward the end of the game, but it was without a doubt an embarrassing defensive effort for Washington and one that will leave a bad taste in the mouths of fans and players for years to come.

Mar 10, 2026; Miami, Florida, USA; Miami Heat center Bam Adebayo (13) reacts after becoming the NBA's second highest scorer of points in a game against the Wshington Wizards at Kaseya Center. Adebayo scored 83 points. Mandatory Credit: Rhona Wise-Imagn Images | Rhona Wise-Imagn Images

Alex Sarr’s Mastery

Sarr’s near 30-point outburst came as a bit of a surprise considering he was both on a heavy minutes restriction and without All-Star point guard Trae Young, who in theory should generate plenty of clean looks for the Frenchman. However, Sarr was ready to go out of the gates, playing aggressive and assertive for every minute he was on the floor, even with the score not in his favor.

ALEX SARR WENT CRAZY TODAY

28 POINTS
7 REBOUNDS
2 BLOCKS
4 THREES
12/19 FG

SARR IS ONLY 20 YEARS OLD 👀👀 pic.twitter.com/vKutoYUdd6

— WizardsMuse (@WizardsMuse1) March 11, 2026

Sarr likely fed off the anger of seeing Adebayo have his way with the Wizards’ bigs, motivating him to get back at him. However, he did it in a much more ethical way, scoring all of his points from the field and not attempting a single free throw in the game. Some may consider Sarr’s effort soft, as a big man should probably be attempting more free throws, but at the end of the day, production is production. It may not have been an ideal night for the Wizards fandom, but at the very least they got a glimpse into what their future may hold.

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