NBA Finals

Bam Adebayo Shares Funny Exchange With Reporter About Heat's Lack of Game 1 Free Throws

The Heat set an NBA playoff record for the fewest free throw attempts in a single game

Garrett Ellwood/NBAE via Getty Images

Haywood Highsmith did something no other Miami Heat player could in Game 1 of the 2023 NBA Finals: get to the free throw line.

The reserve forward shot and made the Heat's only two free throws in their 104-93 loss to the Nuggets in Denver on Thursday night. With the two foul shots, Miami set the NBA single-game playoff record for the fewest free throw attempts.

The record-setting night came after Miami had averaged 21 free throws over the previous three playoff rounds. The Nuggets, meanwhile, connected on 16 of 20 foul shots in Game 1.

The Heat's historically low number of free throw attempts led to a funny postgame exchange. A reporter asked Heat center Bam Adebayo about the free throw disparity and prefaced the question by saying "I promise I'm not trying to get you fined."

That caused Highsmith, who was seated next to Adebayo, to break out in laughter before Adebayo replied: "If I do say something, will you take the fine?"

"We can't even get into that," Adebayo continued. "We can't let them dictate the game. I just feel like we took a lot of jump shots and we missed a lot of them, instead of getting to the basket. We're gonna watch film and get back to the drawing board."

After avoiding a potential fine by not criticizing the referees, Adebayo then jokingly asked why the reporter doesn't get fined for bringing up the free throw disparity.

Adebayo scored a team-high 26 points amid a rough shooting night overall for Miami. It'd be surprising if the Heat don't make a concerted effort to attack the rim -- and get to the line -- in Game 2 on Sunday.

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