Takeaways and details from the Heat’s dominant season-opening win over short-handed Bucks
Last season ended for the Miami Heat with a disappointing 17-point loss to the Milwaukee Bucks in May that sent the organization into the summer reassessing its roster. The revamped and re-energized Heat opened this season with a statement win over the Bucks that only added to the excitement and intrigue of what may lie ahead.
What a difference five months make, as the Heat (1-0) crushed the defending NBA champion Bucks 137-95 on Thursday night at FTX Arena. The 42-point victory is the second-largest win in franchise history behind only a 43-point win over the Los Angeles Clippers on Dec. 29, 1994.
But the victory comes with a caveat, as Milwaukee (1-1) was without six players because of injuries. Among those missing against the Heat were Bucks starters Jrue Holiday and Brook Lopez.
“It was just another game for us, honestly,” Heat star Jimmy Butler said, downplaying the revenge storyline. “We came out and executed our game plan, the way we talked about it. Guys were aggressive, tried to fit into their roles to the T and we played well. They definitely were down some guys, but we take these [wins] as they come.”
The Heat’s win was impressive nonetheless because of the dominance it displayed. It marked the most points Miami has ever scored in an opener.
The Heat never trailed, won the first quarter by 23 points and took a 29-point lead into halftime. Miami’s advantage grew to as many as 42 points in the second half.
Bam Adebayo, Butler and Tyler Herro led the charge, combining for 68 points on 25-of-41 (60.1 percent) shooting.
Adebayo finished with 20 points on 9-of-13 shooting and 13 rebounds.
Butler ended the night with 21 points on 6-of-10 shooting, four rebounds and six assists.
Herro contributed a game-high 27 points on 10-of-18 shooting from the field and 4-of-8 shooting on threes, six rebounds and five assists.
It marked just the fifth time the Heat has had three 20-point scorers on opening night in franchise history.
In guard Kyle Lowry’s first regular-season game with the Heat, he recorded only five points on 1-of-8 shooting from the field and 1-of-6 shooting on threes but accounted for six assists. He left the court briefly in the second quarter after spraining his left ankle but returned to finish the game.
The Bucks, which swept the Heat out of the first round of the playoffs last season, shot just 38.1 percent from the field.
Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo finished with 15 points on 4-of-11 shooting and 10 rebounds, which is considered a quiet game by his standards.
“Guys have had a really good training camp,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “They’ve been preparing for this regular season and I think everybody is just looking forward to starting off and of course it’s fun to play against the reigning champions. But all the other storylines, I don’t know. I think there’s just more excitement from within about this group and the opportunity.”
Next up for the Heat is a road matchup against the Indiana Pacers (0-1) on Saturday night.
Here are five takeaways from the Heat’s season-opening win over the Bucks:
The Heat’s first quarter of the season will probably end up as one of its best quarters of the season.
Miami opened Thursday’s game on a 32-7 run on its way to outscoring Milwaukee 40-17 in the first quarter.
The 23-point lead after one period ties for the ninth-largest in Heat history.
Adebayo and Butler combined for 15 points on 6-of-7 shooting in Thursday’s first quarter. Miami also got 20 points from its bench (eight from Herro, seven from Dewayne Dedmon and five from Max Strus).
The first quarter was good all the way until the very end for the Heat, as Strus hustled for a chase down block on a Jordan Nwora dunk attempt with three seconds left and Herro grabbed the rebound and drilled a floating 32-foot three-pointer at the buzzer.
“Max made a hell of a play on the ball being able to first just give that effort to be able to stop that fast break,” Herro said of that sequence to close the quarter. “Then once I got the ball, I just took a quick glance at the clock. I think there was like four seconds left. I took a couple dribbles and let it go.”
That dominant period propelled the Heat to a 29-point lead entering halftime, which is tied for the fifth-largest halftime advantage in Heat history.
Lowry didn’t score many points in his Heat regular-season debut, but his impact was felt on the offensive end.
Lowry totaled just five points, but his veteran presence at point guard freed up Adebayo and Butler to take on more of an attacking role.
“With Kyle playing the way he plays, it gives everybody freedom to just hoop,” Butler said.
Adebayo, who averaged 5.4 assists last season, finished with one assist on Thursday. But he scored 20 points on 13 shots in 23 minutes, and nine of his shots came in the paint.
Butler dished out six assists on Thursday, but he also was able to play more of an off-ball role with Lowry handling most of the point guard duties when he was on the court.
That meant more post touches and offense generated by off-ball movement for Butler, and that turned into more opportunities around the basket.
Butler scored 21 on 10 shots, and seven of those shots came from inside the paint. He also finished 9 of 11 from the free-throw line.
The Heat also just played faster with Lowry on the court. Miami played at a pace of 113.8 possessions per 48 minutes with Lowry in the game compared to 100.1 possessions per 48 minutes when he was on the bench.
The Heat’s rotation to open the season didn’t offer any surprises.
It went as expected, with Lowry, Butler, Duncan Robinson, P.J. Tucker and Adebayo starting for Miami.
Herro entered as the sixth man, followed by Dedmon, Strus and Markieff Morris to make up the Heat’s nine-man rotation on opening night.
The Heat’s bench outscored the Bucks’ reserves 75-42 behind Herro’s 27 points.
The Heat then emptied the bench in the fourth quarter.
Both of the Heat’s two-way contract players, Marcus Garrett and Caleb Martin, were on the active roster Thursday. That means it counted as one of the 50 regular-season games they can be active for as part of their two-way deals.
This game meant a little more to Tucker, and it was evident.
Tucker, 36, finished his first regular-season game in a Heat uniform with eight points on 3-of-4 shooting from the field and 2-of-3 shooting on threes, six rebounds, two assists and one steal in 22 minutes.
“He’s really inspiring. He’s so inspiring,” Spoelstra said of Tucker. “Everybody, Heat Nation was able to see this tonight. He’s literally like this in every single practice. You have to like dial him down. He’s competing every single possession like it’s his last possession. He’s yelling at people to do their job defensively. All the details and everything, he just takes so much pride on that side of the floor.”
Tucker, who won an NBA championship with the Bucks last season, admitted this week that he was surprised that Milwaukee didn’t make more of an effort to keep him this past offseason.
Milwaukee held Tucker’s Bird rights and could have surpassed the salary cap to bring him back, but The Athletic reported that the Bucks’ luxury tax bill was a factor in not matching or exceeding the Heat’s offer.
Tucker ended up signing with Miami on a two-year, $14.4 million contract as a free agent.
“To say that I’m not circling every time we play Milwaukee, I would be lying to you,” Tucker said this week.
Tucker was a factor from the start, recording five points, five rebounds, two assists, one steal and quality defense on both Antetokounmpo and Middleton in nine first-quarter minutes. He was called for a hard foul on Antetokounmpo less than a minute into the game and stared at his former teammates and coaches after hitting a three in front of the Bucks’ bench midway through the opening period.
“P.J. is P.J. He is going to play hard,” Antetokounmpo said. “Miami was a physical team before P.J., he just adds to it. They always play physical.”
This game didn’t offer a real read on how the new-look Heat match up with the Bucks.
Why? Because Milwaukee was missing six players, including a few starters, due to injuries.
The Bucks were without two starters in Holiday (right heel contusion) and Lopez (back soreness) against the Heat.
The Bucks were also missing Donte DiVincenzo (left ankle recovery), Rodney Hood (right foot soreness), Semi Ojeleye (left calf strain) and Bobby Portis (left hamstring strain).
Meanwhile, the Heat only was without guard Victor Oladipo, who continues to recover from May knee surgery.
The next game between the Heat and Bucks is Dec. 4 in Milwaukee.
This story was originally published October 21, 2021 at 10:38 PM.
