Another game against the Wizards! Adebayo responds to potential increased intensity from opponents: Then I'll just take 43 free throws again.

On April 4 Beijing time, the Heat will face the Wizards again at 3:00 AM on April 5. In their previous encounter, the opponent hardly put up any resistance. Heat center Adebayo dominated this team focused on tanking for the top draft pick, scoring a whopping 83 points.

Now, in the Heat's final five regular-season games, they will play the Wizards twice. If this still-tanking Wizards team wants to redeem themselves, they have ample opportunity for revenge.

“I’m sure they will,” Heat head coach Spoelstra said after practice regarding the Wizards' potential counterattack. “We prepare for every opponent to give their full effort every game. Hopefully that pushes us to a better level.”

“The Wizards' desire to win this time is likely stronger than usual.”

If the Wizards really apply physical pressure and intensity on him this time? “Then I’ll just take 43 free throws again,” Adebayo said with a smile.

Previously, Adebayo scored 83 points in that 150-129 blowout victory, a figure in NBA history second only to Chamberlain's legendary 100 points. After the game, Wizards coach Keefe questioned the nature of the contest. “The fourth quarter,” Keefe said that night, “just didn’t resemble a real basketball game.”

Following external criticism that the Heat dominated too heavily and the game was unsightly, Adebayo blamed Keefe. “First, you should blame their head coach,” Adebayo said last month. “It wasn’t me playing one-on-one all the way; they only started double-teaming me after I scored 70 points.”

Adebayo indicated he anticipates Wizards players might take control of the game pace themselves this time. “I’d say nobody wants someone scoring 80 points on them. So I expect players might deviate from the strategy, ignore the coach (Keefe)’s instructions, and try different defensive approaches.”

“When I scored 70 points, there was about nine minutes left in the game? Do you think I would stop?” Adebayo said about this game that has drawn significant attention to the Heat-Wizards regular-season matchup. “This is where they say basketball becomes ‘unethical,’ it’s pretty ridiculous.”

In that game, the Wizards benched all players who could increase their win probability. This time, the key might be whether they can avoid foul trouble. In the 83-point game, Adebayo shot 36 of 43 free throws.

Clearly, Keefe was very dissatisfied with those foul calls. “They obviously kept him on the floor, and there were a lot of foul calls, 16 free throws in the fourth quarter alone. He got free throws from 40 feet away from the basket. Some calls I can’t explain, but I’ll just leave it at that.”

So maybe more double-teams this time? “That’s their coach’s decision,” Adebayo said with a smile.

Regardless of whether the Wizards counterattack, these two matchups are not guaranteed wins. Note that the Heat have lost twice this season to the tanking Indiana Pacers, and also lost to similarly tanking Kings and Jazz.

“We still have to play them twice,” Spoelstra said about the Wizards, with the Heat leading 2-0 in the season's four meetings. “We won’t expect anyone to help us; we have to rely on ourselves now.”

Although Adebayo's scoring numbers were controversial, beating the Wizards at that time was significant for the Heat, and it was part of their seven-game winning streak then.

This time, it’s about playoff seeding. Both the Heat, who have been struggling recently, and the Wizards, who have been losing heavily, are not in good positions before this game.

The Heat have lost 8 of their last 10 games, and the Wizards have lost 18 of their last 20. When asked about the team's playoff situation, Adebayo said: “One game at a time. We have five games left; we’ll see the outcome after playing them.”