Miami Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra answered critics of Bam Adebayo’s 83-point effort in Tuesday’s 150-129 win over the Washington Wizards.

“I apologize to absolutely no one,” Spoelstra told reporters, via ClutchPoints’ Zachary Weinberger.

Adebayo scored the second-highest total in a single game in NBA history, second to Wilt Chamberlain’s 100-point game in 1962 and surpassing Kobe Bryant’s 81 points in 2006. However, many observers questioned the integrity of Adebayo’s performance, during which he took 43 free throws (the most in an NBA game) and attempted 22 3-pointers.

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Spoelstra said Adebayo was doing exactly what was asked of him before the game. The effort simply went in a direction no one could have anticipated, resulting in what Spoelstra called “a magical night.”

“It’s a Tuesday night game against a team where they’re not playing for anything, the organization is trying to lose,” the Heat coach explained. “We’ve already lost a game in that kind of situation. We have players that are sitting out.

“And I spoke to Bam … I want, as our best player and team captain, for him to be locked in. And he sure was. … He approached that game appropriately.”

Detractors noted Adebayo’s performance came against a Wizards team that has the third-worst record in the NBA and is apparently tanking in efforts to win the No. 1 overall pick in the NBA Draft. However, a win was important for Miami, which currently holds the No. 6 seed in the Eastern Conference but is only a half-game from falling to the seventh spot, which would put them in the mix for a play-in spot rather than an assured playoff berth.

Others faulted Spoelstra’s eventual strategy of committing fouls to get the Heat more offensive possessions and thus more opportunities for Adebayo to score. That was one of the reasons Yahoo Sports’ Tom Haberstroh said Adebayo’s effort should be accompanied with an asterisk (albeit with a wink).

Yet with 62 points after the third quarter and Miami holding a 14-point lead, a historic scoring total was within reach and achieving it became a rallying point for the team and fans at Kaseya Center.

The coach dismissed attempts to define the effort as “unethical” or not playing real basketball. Those making such accusations likely didn’t even see Tuesday’s game and the circumstances of Adebayo’s performance.

“That’s unethical,” Spoelstra said.

Spoelstra cited the galvanizing effect of the Heat players uniting toward one effort as important for the team’s playoff drive through the remaining 16 games of the regular season.

“This locker room has wanted something … I texted a little bit with Dwyane [Wade] afterwards and he’s talking about that buzz. Well, there’s going to be a buzz now,” he said. “There will be a responsibility to that buzz. Good. I want there to be pressure on our team.”

Miami Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra answered critics of Bam Adebayo’s 83-point effort in Tuesday’s 150-129 win over the Washington Wizards.

“I apologize to absolutely no one,” Spoelstra told reporters, via ClutchPoints’ Zachary Weinberger.

Adebayo scored the second-highest total in a single game in NBA history, second to Wilt Chamberlain’s 100-point game in 1962 and surpassing Kobe Bryant’s 81 points in 2006. However, many observers questioned the integrity of Adebayo’s performance, during which he took 43 free throws (the most in an NBA game) and attempted 22 3-pointers.

[Join or create a Yahoo Fantasy Baseball league for the 2026 MLB season]

Spoelstra said Adebayo was doing exactly what was asked of him before the game. The effort simply went in a direction no one could have anticipated, resulting in what Spoelstra called “a magical night.”

“It’s a Tuesday night game against a team where they’re not playing for anything, the organization is trying to lose,” the Heat coach explained. “We’ve already lost a game in that kind of situation. We have players that are sitting out.

“And I spoke to Bam … I want, as our best player and team captain, for him to be locked in. And he sure was. … He approached that game appropriately.”

Detractors noted Adebayo’s performance came against a Wizards team that has the third-worst record in the NBA and is apparently tanking in efforts to win the No. 1 overall pick in the NBA Draft. However, a win was important for Miami, which currently holds the No. 6 seed in the Eastern Conference but is only a half-game from falling to the seventh spot, which would put them in the mix for a play-in spot rather than an assured playoff berth.

Others faulted Spoelstra’s eventual strategy of committing fouls to get the Heat more offensive possessions and thus more opportunities for Adebayo to score. That was one of the reasons Yahoo Sports’ Tom Haberstroh said Adebayo’s effort should be accompanied with an asterisk (albeit with a wink).

Yet with 62 points after the third quarter and Miami holding a 14-point lead, a historic scoring total was within reach and achieving it became a rallying point for the team and fans at Kaseya Center.

The coach dismissed attempts to define the effort as “unethical” or not playing real basketball. Those making such accusations likely didn’t even see Tuesday’s game and the circumstances of Adebayo’s performance.

“That’s unethical,” Spoelstra said.

Spoelstra cited the galvanizing effect of the Heat players uniting toward one effort as important for the team’s playoff drive through the remaining 16 games of the regular season.

“This locker room has wanted something … I texted a little bit with Dwyane [Wade] afterwards and he’s talking about that buzz. Well, there’s going to be a buzz now,” he said. “There will be a responsibility to that buzz. Good. I want there to be pressure on our team.”

The Texas Rangers are signing lefthanded reliever Jalen Beeks to a one year deal, per Evan Grant.

Beeks, 32, first debuted in 2018 with the Boston Red Sox, and was traded to Tampa mid-season for Nathan Eovaldi. He was with the Rays until the 2023 offseason, when he was claimed on waivers by the Colorado Rockies, who dealt him to Pittsburgh at the 2024 trade deadline. He signed with Houston 363 days ago, was released 12 days later, and then signed with Arizona, where he spent the 2025 season.

Beeks is a ground ball pitcher who doesn’t strike out a lot of guys and isn’t great at avoiding walks. He has been durable the past two seasons, however, appearing in 132 games, and he had a decent season for Arizona in 2025, putting up a 3.77 ERA and a 3.88 xERA.

Beeks will make five free agent relievers signed to major league deals by the Rangers this offseason, with the other four being Tyler Alexander, Alexis Diaz, Jakob Junis, and Chris Martin. The Rangers also acquired Rule 5 pick Carter Baumler.

With Alexander, Beeks, and holdover Robert Garcia, the Rangers have three lefties who would appear to be slated for the Opening Day bullpen. Jacob Latz is also a bullpen candidate, but he appears more likely to be in the Opening Day rotation, as he appears to currently have the edge over Kumar Rocker for the final spot.

Diaz has struggled mightily to throw strikes this spring. Throwing strikes has never been his strong point, but his control issues have been particularly bad the past couple of seasons. The Rangers felt there were some things they could do with him to improve in that regard, but it hasn’t appeared to have taken yet. He has an option remaining, so it is possible that he could be sent down to start the season.

The Rangers will have to open up a 40 man roster spot to add Beeks. Waiver claims Dairon Blanco and Michel Otanez would seem to be the most likely candidates to be dropped. However, Texas will also need to open up a roster spot for Andrew McCutchen (or Mark Canha, though McCutchen would seem to be the heavy favorite for that bench spot), so neither player would seem to be safe.

In addition, Evan’s article mentions that Gavin Collyer, Payton Gray and Josh Sborz are in contention for a bullpen spot. None of them are currently on the 40 man roster, so if any of them were to earn a spot on the Opening Day roster, a 40 man move would have to be made there, as well.

As of now, Alexander, Beeks, Garcia, Martin, Junis, and Winn would appear to have six of the eight bullpen spots. One would think that Baumler has shown enough to start the season on with the club, though it remains to be seen whether he will be able to pitch well enough to maintain his hold on a job.

That would, barring injury, leave one bullpen spot open for Diaz, Collyer, Gray, Sborz, Luis Curvelo, or someone else.

The Cincinnati Reds will play under the lights on Thursday when they travel across the Land of the Endless Strip Mall to take on the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Not resting on their World Series laurels, the Dodgers are 12-6 in Cactus League play so far this spring, proving that they are equally adept at winning games that don’t matter as they are at winning games that do.

The Reds will send left-hander Nick Lodolo to the mound for the start as he looks to stretch out to four full innings for the first time this spring. Cincinnati is also sending out a lineup chock full of regulars for the evening, one that includes Elly De La Cruz and Sal Stewart hitting back to back in the 3/4 holes.

Sal, for the record, will slide back over and play 1B on the night. Spencer Steer is also in the lineup showing his versatility as he’ll play in RF (while Noelvi Marte gets a night at DH).

First pitch is set for 9:05 PM ET, and you’ll be able to watch it through MLB.tv thanks to SportsNet LA carrying Dodgers coverage.

Here’s the travel roster for the night, one that features top prospect Tyson Lewis available off the bench as well as Tejay Antone down in the bullpen.

MESA, Arizona — It’s getting hot in the Valley of the Sun — over 90 degrees Thursday, when the average high is about 77 — and Edward Cabrera is heating up, too, getting ready for his spot in the Cubs rotation.

Cabrera threw 60 pitches (43 strikes) in throwing until there were two out in the fourth. He struck out three. He left with the lead and the Cubs hung on to defeat the Mariners 7-4.

One of Cabrera’s strikeouts was notable. In the first inning, former Cubs prospect Brennen Davis was at bat with one out and a runner on first. Cabrera ran a 3-2 count on Davis and then threw a pitch that was called ball four. Carson Kelly challenged, and the call was overturned, resulting in a called strikeout. Here’s the at-bat in question:

Davis had a pretty good at-bat, as you can see, fouling off a bunch of Cabrera’s offerings. But you can also see that pitch 10, the one that was overturned, was definitely in the zone. This was a good use of the ABS challenge in the first inning. Not that you’d necessarily do that in a regular-season game, but it was definitely good practice for Kelly to challenge that pitch.

The Mariners scored a run in the third off Cabrera on a single, stolen base, fly to right and infield out. The Cubs took the lead in the bottom of the inning. BJ Murray led off with a double and went to third on a single by Michael Busch. One out later, Ian Happ doubled in both runners. Sorry — no video available.

As noted, Cabrera was lifted in the fourth. Here’s his pitch breakdown [VIDEO].

The Cubs extended their lead to 3-1 in the fifth. Jefferson Rojas singled with one out and took third on another single by Busch. Nico Hoerner hit a sacrifice fly, scoring Rojas, but Busch was tagged out trying to take second.

The Cubs broke the game open in the seventh, all with minor leaguers and NRI’s. The most important hit was a home run by Chas McCormick, who still has a chance to make the Opening Day roster.

Of Cubs relievers who will be on that roster, Phil Maton threw a scoreless inning, but he did walk a pair. Otherwise the collection of relievers was guys who won’t be there Opening Day (Corbin Martin, Jack Neely, Tyler Beede and Vince Reilly).

Attendance watch: 14,717 paid to see this afternoon affair. That makes the season total for 12 dates 147,731, or 12,311 per date.

The Cubs will head to Glendale to take on the White Sox Friday afternoon. Ben Brown will start for the Cubs and Davis Martin goes for the Sox. Game time is again 3:05 p.m. CT and TV coverage will be via the White Sox channel CHSN. There’s also a radio broadcast with the Sox announcers on WMVP/ESPN 1000.

Dwight Howard has officially announced the end of his basketball career.

Howard has not played in the NBA in 1,434 days but spent 18 years in the league, playing for seven different teams.

Howard already has received one of the top honors for a player, being inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as part of the Class of 2025.

Not only was Howard known for his defensive ability, but also for his playful personality during the early years of his career.

After spending the 2021-22 season with the Los Angeles Lakers, he spent the final year of his active playing career with the Taoyuan Leopards in Taiwan for the 2022-23 season.

Dwight Howard career stats

Howard averaged 15.7 points, 11.8 rebounds and 1.8 blocks per game during his career. He started 1,078 of the 1,242 games he played in. He led the league in rebounds five times and blocks twice.

Dwight Howard success

Howard reached the NBA Finals twice during his career, winning a championship as a key reserve player for the Lakers in 2020.

During his prime, he also led the Orlando Magic to the NBA Finals in 2009 as the Eastern Conference representative. The Magic lost the series to Kobe Bryant and the Lakers 4-1.

Howard was named to eight All-NBA teams and five All-Defensive teams. He finished his career as a three-time Defensive Player of the Year and an eight-time All-Star.

The Hall of Famer also competed in multiple Slam Dunk contests, winning the title in 2008.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Dwight Howard officially retires 4 years after final NBA appearance

MIAMI (AP) — Erik Spoelstra had a very clear message to those who didn’t like how the final minutes of Bam Adebayo’s 83-point game played out.

Put simply, the Miami Heat coach doesn’t care.

“I apologize to absolutely no one,” Spoelstra said Thursday. “Period.”

Adebayo’s 83-point game — now the No. 2 single-game total in NBA history, 17 behind Wilt Chamberlain’s 100 and two ahead of Kobe Bryant’s 81 — was one unlike any other. The Heat center took 43 shots in a 150-129 win on Tuesday over the Washington Wizards, made an NBA-record 36 free throws and had an NBA-record 43 tries from the foul line.

And the last few minutes were a circus, with the Wizards as much as quadruple-teaming Adebayo — who was still getting the ball — and the Heat fouling Washington players on four occasions in the final moments to extend the game and get their center more opportunities to score.

Lost in the hubbub about the final minutes, Spoelstra insisted, is this: Adebayo had 31 points in the first quarter, 43 by halftime, 62 through three quarters, 70 with 9:05 left and 77 with 3:26 remaining. The first instance of Miami fouling to get the ball back for Adebayo was with 1:40 left.

“There was a moment, and when there’s a moment in time like that, it’s carpe diem,” Spoelstra said, using the Latin term for “seize the day.” “You have to go for it, and that was just thrilling. And I’m honored that we were all able to be a part of it.”

A handful of coaches around the NBA — including the Los Angeles Clippers’ Tyronn Lue and Denver’s David Adelman among them — have indicated they had no problem with the Heat using the final minutes to help add to what was already an enormous point total.

Adelman said Adebayo is as good of a professional as there is in the league, and to take a night “and go a little bit crazy” was entertaining.

“He made the extra pass in the fourth quarter when he had 60. He blocked a shot. He was still playing the game,” Adelman said. “When you get to 70, I’m sorry, man, like all bets are off. … I thought it was really cool.”

Wizards coach Brian Keefe didn’t seem thrilled Tuesday with how the last few minutes went. On Thursday in Orlando, before his team played the Magic, Keefe didn’t reminisce.

“We’re focused on today,” Keefe said.

Spoelstra said he spoke with Adebayo before the game about a need to have some urgency. The Heat played with several of their top players — Norman Powell, Tyler Herro, Andrew Wiggins and Kel’el Ware among them — out of that game with injuries.

“It’s a Tuesday night game against a team where they’re not playing for anything, where their organization is trying to lose,” Spoelstra said. “We’ve already lost a game in that kind of situation. … I spoke to Bam about I want, as our best player and team captain, for him to be locked in and ready. And, he sure was.”

He was referring to how the Heat lost a game to Utah last month, a matchup in which the Jazz — who keep their first round pick this year if it’s in the top eight of the draft — held out some of their top players in the fourth quarter and won anyway.

“I’ve seen people say you’ve got to be a purist. I’m a Darwinist in this league,” Spoelstra said. “Really, you can do anything you want in this game. You can approach it however you want. … There’s nothing wrong with what they’re doing. If you can tank and get a great draft pick, I don’t care. You could do anything in this league. You can approach it however you want.”

Spoelstra acknowledged that leaving Adebayo in toward the end of a decided game — Adebayo checked out for good with 1:08 left — was unusual, and it was. He also said memorable moments are “what our fans want to see” and that “a really magical night just appeared out of nowhere.”

In his mind, that doesn’t merit any apologies.

“It doesn’t take away anything from our organization, how we feel about Bam, how special that night was,” Spoelstra said. “Our fan base is electrified by this moment.”

And so was the head coach, who made clear that he’ll do anything for Adebayo.

The Heat got blown out at home by a bad Sacramento team on Dec. 6, one day before Spoelstra played host to his annual 5K run to benefit Nicklaus Children’s Hospital. The run was starting in the wee hours of a Sunday morning. Adebayo had only nine points in the loss to the Kings, and the Heat were sliding.

Without being asked, Adebayo showed up to help that morning. Spoelstra was blown away by the gesture.

“He was there, not to run, just to support,” Spoelstra said. “Just to support and let people know that he was supporting this cause. That says enough about him as a human being. That’s why I’ll do anything for him as a competitor and as his head coach.”

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AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA

Record 8-12. Change on 2025: -1.5. 5-inning record: 4-14-2.

Another day, another spring-worst margin of defeat. After losing by ten runs yesterday, the D-backs went one better (or worse?) this afternoon at Salt River Fields. It was an ugly afternoon for the Arizona pitchers, who handed out a dozen free passes to Colorado hitters, thanks to nine walks and three hit batters. The worst culprit was Brandyn Garcia, who threw 26 pitches to five batters in the sixth, without recording an out: one hit, two walks and two plunkings, part of an eight-run inning. But it had started well. Taylor Clarke and Juan Morillo tossed three hitless innings. John Curtiss also pitched well, with 1.2 scoreless frames. Drey Jameson? Less so: three runs in his 1.2 frames, on two hits and three walks.

The Diamondbacks actually led after the first inning here, before the Rockies got those pesky thirteen unanswered runs. Jordan Lawlar singled, then Tim Tawa got his second home-run of spring, to give Arizona a 2-0 lead before they had a hitter retired. It was all very much downhill from there, however. The D-backs got only four hits and three walks the rest of the way. LuJames Groover accounted for half of the hits with his double and single; Tawa added a walk to his home-run. At least all thirteen runs were earned, I guess? Arizona’s collective ERA in the Cactus League is now 6.22.

We hope for better tomorrow up in Surprise against the Royals. That will see Merrill Kelly return to the mound, as he restarts his build-up: fingers cross that goes well.

NEW YORK (AP) — Brooklyn Nets center Day’Ron Sharpe will miss the rest of the season because of a torn ligament in his left thumb.

The Nets said Thursday that Sharpe would need surgery to repair the tear of the ulnar collateral ligament and that updates would be provided after he had it.

Sharpe is Brooklyn’s primary backup to Nic Claxton, playing in 62 games and starting seven. He has averaged 8.7 points and 6.7 rebounds and leads the Nets in field goal percentage at 60.1%. The 2021 first-round pick tops all Nets reserves in total points, assists and steals.

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AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA