Secret to his sudden success? Adebayo: Purity, honesty, love
MIAMI — In addition to the breakthrough made with the signing of Jimmy Butler and the breakout of emerging center Bam Adebayo, the upstart Miami Heat are breaking records with players previously searching for their big break.
In combining for 70 points in Tuesday night’s overtime victory over the Atlanta Hawks at AmericanAirlines Arena, Kendrick Nunn and Duncan Robinson put themselves in the NBA record book.
With Nunn’s career-high 36 and Robinson’s career-high 34, it was the highest output by a pair in NBA history.
According to Elias Sports Bureau, the previous combined high by a pair of undrafted teammates was 65 by the Golden State Warriors’ C.J. Watson (40) and Anthony Morrow (25) on Feb. 17, 2010 against the Sacramento Kings.
“We celebrate each other’s success and we genuinely enjoy it,” Robinson said.
Nunn became the first undrafted rookie to score 32 points through three quarters in the last two decades, with his 36 of undrafted teammates
the most by an undrafted rookie since Morrow scored 37 for the Warriors on Nov. 15, 2008 against the Los Angeles Clippers.
“All the work you see,” Nunn said, “we have put all the effort behind closed doors.”
Nunn’s 36 points are the most by a rookie this season, eclipsing the 34 by Golden State’s Eric Paschall against the Portland Trail Blazers on Nov. 4.
Nunn went undrafted out of Oakland University in 2018, spending last season in the G League with the Warriors’ affiliate. Robinson went undrafted out of Michigan in 2018, spending all but the final games of last season on a two-way contract with the Heat, before being converted by the Heat to a standard NBA deal. Both are under contract to the Heat through next season, at the league minimum.
To Adebayo, the Heat’s first-round pick in 2017, it is a matter of the Heat embracing all possibilities from all corners of the development spectrum.
“I feel like we are all pure, like I have said before,” he said, with the Heat taking Wednesday off before a return to practice Thursday in advance of Friday night’s nationally televised 7 p.m. game against the visiting Los Angeles Lakers.
“We are pure to each other. We are honest with each other. And we love each other. We go out there and fight for each other.”
To Robinson, it’s all about opportunity. “I believe in myself,” he said. “I have put a lot of effort into that growth.”
Robinson’s 10 3-pointers Tuesday tied the Heat record set by Brian Shaw against the Milwaukee Bucks on April 8, 1993 and later tied by Mario Chalmers against the Sacramento Kings on Jan. 12, 2013.
Triple threats: With his 30 points, 11 rebounds and a career-high 11 assists against the Hawks, Adebayo broke Dwyane Wade’s record as the youngest player in franchise history with a triple-double, at 22 years, 145 days.
With Jimmy Butler also recording a triple-double Tuesday, it made it the 10th time teammates have recorded triple-doubles in the same game, the first since Russell
Westbrook and Paul George with the Oklahoma City Thunder against the Trail Blazers on Feb. 11 of last season.
Butler became the third player in franchise history and first since Hassan Whiteside in 2015-16 to record three tripledoubles in a season. The franchise record is four by LeBron James in both 2010-11 and 2012-13.
With Nunn’s 36, Robinson’s 34 and Adebayo’s 30, it was the second game in the franchise’s 32 seasons with three 30-point scorers. It previously was done on March 27, 2011 on the road against the Houston Rockets, when James scored 33, Chris Bosh 31 and Wade 30.
The combined 100 points is the second most by a Heat trio. The record of 101 was set against the Utah Jazz on March 14, 2009, when Wade scored 50, Jermaine O’Neal 28 and Chalmers 23.
In moving to 4-0 in overtime games this season, the Heat have outscored their opponents 54-19, including 18-4 Tuesday.
The Heat’s 12-game home winning streak, which dates to last season’s home finale, is the team’s longest since a 17-game streak in 2012-13 on the way to the franchise’s third NBA title.