The Athletic NBA Daily NBA Dark Horse Rankings | Morning Shoot Around
Mar 11, 2026
Panelists debate Bam Adebayo's 83-point game and whether it truly belongs in context. They argue about intentional fouling, tanking and coaching impact on lopsided scoring nights. The group ranks NBA dark horse teams, spotlighting Houston, Miami, Orlando and surprise Eastern candidates. They toss out unlikely names who might next eclipse Bam's mark and recap their dark/medium/light lists.
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Unexpected Historic Nights Shift Perception
- Bam Adebayo's 83-point game exposed how quickly perception shifts when unlikely players have historic nights.
- Hosts argued the performance was both a spectacle enabled by a poor opponent and proof of elite-level skill shown in 43 points in 19 minutes of real game action.
Scoring Records Need Context To Be Judged
- The panel debated legitimacy factors: intentional fouling, opponent quality, and triple teams both inflate and validate high scoring totals.
- They noted Bam's 43 points in 19 minutes came before fouling tactics, strengthening the feat's credibility.
Trainer Trash Talk Sparked Bam's Aggression
- Esfandiar shared a halftime interview anecdote where a Heat trainer trash-talked Bam into aggression, which he credited for Bam's mindset shift.
- Andrew and others said Spolstra and staff embraced the aggression and celebrated the result.