Bam Adebayo scored 32 points and grabbed 14 rebounds to lead the Miami Heat to a 118-98 win over the Washington Wizards in Mexico City on Saturday night.
Tyler Herro added 15 points on 5-of-9 shooting. He and Adebayo combined for 30 of Miami’s 56 first-half points. Jimmy Butler chipped in with 18 points, eight rebounds and four assists while Alec Burks added 15 points off the bench. Jaime Jaquez Jr. scored eight points off the bench.
Adebayo, who has endured a slow start to the season, surpassed his previous season high of 12 points early in the second quarter.
Bilal Coulibaly had 22 points and Jordan Poole chipped in with 21 points for the Wizards, whose starting lineup included rookies Alexandre Sarr, Carlton Carrington and Kyshawn George. Sarr scored 17 points on 7-of-11 shooting from the field and added six rebounds and three assists. Carrington and George combined for 10 points as all three rookies each played over 27 minutes.
The Heat went on a 14-2 run to jump out to a 27-12 lead with 3:03 left in the first quarter. The Wizards closed the quarter on a 9-4 spurt to cut their deficit to 31-21 entering the second.
Washington got within six points early in the second quarter but the Heat answered with a 23-12 run to take a 54-37 lead with 2:55 left in the half. The Wizards missed their first nine shots from beyond the arc and finished the first half 3-of-19 from deep. Despite the poor 3-point shooting, Washington still trailed by only eight at halftime.
The Heat went on a 26-12 run in the third to take an 82-60 lead on Adebayo’s dunk with 3:50 left in the quarter. Miami took a 19-point lead into the fourth quarter.
The Heat shot 42.2 percent from the floor and hit 15 of 37 attempts from three-point range. The Wizards shot 41.8 percent but finished just 7-of-35 from deep. The Heat outrebounded the Wizards 65-44.
