A lot went wrong for Heat in Giannis Antetokounmpo’s debut: ‘We weren’t ourselves’

Miami Heat Sports admin October 22, 2026 0 Comments

A lot went wrong for Heat in Giannis Antetokounmpo’s debut: ‘We weren’t ourselves’

Just one day before the Miami Heat’s regular-season opener, two-time NBA MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo spoke about the perspective needed during a long 82-game regular season.

‘We can’t win a championship in training camp. We can’t win a championship in Game 1,” Antetokounmpo said following Tuesday’s practice. “I wish we could play one game and win a championship, but we can’t.

“Obviously, I understand the first impression is everything. But I don’t know if that applies in basketball. It’s 82 games. You can win the first game by 30 and lose 10 in a row.”

Unfortunately for Antetokounmpo and the Heat, the season-opening result was nearly a 30-point loss.

The Heat (0-1) began the Antetokounmpo era with an ugly 131-106 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves on Wednesday night at Kaseya Center.

The 25-point defeat is the second-most lopsided season-opening loss in Heat history. The only worse season-opening loss for the Heat came when it fell to the Chicago Bulls by 42 points to begin the 2006-07 campaign.

“Our effort has got to be way better. It starts with me,” Antetokounmpo said. “Our effort has got to be better. My effort has got to be better. Our effort was not as good as in the past. They scored 130 points in our house. I have to be better. It starts with me. I’ve got to set the tone.”

The offense looked lost at times, and the defense was not as good as expected in the opener.

After scoring 124.2 points per game and playing at the fastest pace in the NBA (107.8 possessions per 48 minutes) this preseason, the Heat totaled just 106 points and played at slower pace of 105.5 possessions per 48 minutes in Wednesday’s regular-season opener. Miami also dished out 27 assists Wednesday after averaging 31.8 assists per game during the preseason.

“We didn’t get many good looks,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “… We didn’t look like us offensively. You have to give Minnesota credit for that. But we were also doing things that were uncharacteristic. Walking the ball up, waiting for play calls, playing on one side of the floor, one-pass shots that were contested, and then just leaving it to one shot.

But Antetokounmpo still made history in his Heat regular season debut and was dominant for most of the night, finishing the loss with 35 points on 13-of-19 shooting from the field and 9-of-14 shooting from the foul line in 29 minutes before fouling out with 7:09 left in the fourth quarter. However, he only recorded one assist after averaging 6.7 assists in the preseason.

Antetokounmpo passed LeBron James (31 points in his first game with the Heat in 2010) for the most points by any player in his Heat regular-season debut. Antetokounmpo also finished two points short of matching James’ record (37 points to begin the 2011-12 season) for the most points by a Heat player in a regular-season opener.

So, did Antetokounmpo feel good about his performance Wednesday?

“No. I feel good when the team plays good, when things are clicking, when we’re playing with a rhythm, when we play with great pace, when we win games,” Antetokounmpo said, with the Heat now moving on to Friday’s matchup against the Detroit Pistons at Kaseya Center (8 p.m., WPLG Local 10). “That’s when I feel good. Hopefully on Friday I can feel better.”

The Heat’s defense will definitely need to be better on Friday for Antetokounmpo to feel better.

While defense is expected to be the Heat’s strength this season, it recorded a defensive rating of 124.8 points allowed per 100 possessions on Wednesday that would have ranked last among NBA teams last regular season.

Some of the Heat’s defensive issues were simply due to Timberwolves star Anthony Edwards’ elite shot-making, as Edwards closed Wednesday’s opener with 45 points on 15 made jumpers. But the Heat also wasn’t as connected on defense as it needs to be moving forward.

“The first three pick-and-rolls they ran, we were late in getting under or not even there at the three,” Spoelstra said. “And then three more pick-and-roll mistakes after that, and they got it going. And then it became Edwards in a dribble dance and trying to get to his airspace. And he felt comfortable all night long. We never really got him thinking about anything else other than the rim.

“And so we’re going to have to step up our defense. We know that. It’s going to have to be all across the board, with efforts and disruptiveness and these effort plays. We’re capable of doing it. We’re just going to have to get a lot better at committing to it, all five guys on the floor.”

The Timberwolves outscored the Heat 63-24 from three-point range.

The Timberwolves also won the possession battle behind a big 17-4 edge in offensive rebounds. Minnesota outscored Miami 20-6 in second-chance points.

“The plays in the margins, we’re also going to have to get better at that,” Spoelstra continued. “Forcing more turnovers, taking care of the basketball. They basically won all those departments. We outshot them tonight, and we got beat by 30. They dominated the turnovers, dominated the offensive glass, and dominated the three-point line. They outscored us on the three-point line by a big margin.”

Antetokounmpo’s Heat co-star Bam Adebayo was also relatively quiet, closing with 15 points, seven rebounds, four assists and three steals. He scored just six points in the first half.

“Now, we get back to the drawing board,” Adebayo said. “Now, we get to watch film. Now, it’s real. Now, we figure out how we can improve.”

For Antetokounmpo, it comes down to trusting each other on the court.

“We just got to trust what we’ve been doing. We’ve got to trust what we’ve been working on,” Antetokounmpo said. “I feel like our offense and our defense in the preseason, was totally different. I don’t know if it’s jitters. I don’t know if it’s the excitement of the first game of the season. But we’ve got to be better. We have to be better. Our offense has got to be better. We’ve got to trust one another. Our trust cannot go away.

“We weren’t ourselves today. I think everybody in this locker room knows that.”

The Heat has another quality opponent coming to Kaseya Center on Friday in the Pistons, which closed last regular season as the Eastern Conference’s No. 1 playoff seed after posting a 60-22 record. Detroit began this season by defeating the Boston Celtics on Tuesday.

“It’s like a 10-minute disappointment,” Antetokounmpo said of processing Wednesday’s season-opening defeat. “But you got to look to the next game. We have a very good team coming in, Detroit on Friday. We’ll come in [Thursday], get better, watch some film. We have to be better. We have to play better. And hopefully now on Friday, we can win.”