Miami Heat Bam Adebayo, right, and Washington Wizards Alexandre Sarr fight for the ball during the first half of an NBA basketball game, at the Mexico Arena in Mexico City, Saturday, Nov. 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)
MEXICO CITY — Bam Adebayo scored 20 of his 32 points in the first half and the Miami Heat beat the Washington Wizards 118-98 on Saturday night in the 14th NBA regular-season game in Mexico.
Adebayo had 14 rebounds and shot 12 of 24 from the field. Jimmy Butler added 18 points, Tyler Herro had 15 and Terry Rozier 12 to help Miami improve to 3-2.
Kel’El Ware added 15 points coming of the bench. Jaime Jaquez Jr. scored eight points in his first game playing in his father’s country.
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2.5 minutes of Bam absolutely dominating on the floor 💥 pic.twitter.com/J1znIF0Wx7
— Miami HEAT (@MiamiHEAT) November 3, 2024
Bilal Coulibaly led Washington (2-3) with 22 points. Jordan Poole added 21 points and Alexandre Sarr had 17.
Before the game, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said the league had reached an agreement with local organizers to play more games in Mexico.
Takeaways
Heat: Adebayo has 194 career double-doubles and is 11 away from tying Alonzo Mourning for the second-best in franchise history. Rony Seikaly is the leader with 221.
Wizards: Coulibaly has scored at least 15 points in a career-best four game span. The 20-year-old was coming of a career-high 27 points against the Atlanta Hawks.
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Key moment
Herro scored five points in 13-3 run in the second quarter that put the Heat ahead 51-34 with less than four minutes to play.
Key stat
Miami outrebounded Washington 65-44.
Up next
The Wizards host Golden State on Monday night, while the Miami return home to play Sacramento on Monday night.