For the second-straight game, Giannis Antetokounmpo scored at least 35 points, recording 36 on Friday.
And for the second-straight game, the Heat provided nowhere near enough help for the 10-time All-Star.
Despite an outstanding game from their newest superstar, Cade Cunningham and the Pistons pummeled Miami 128-111 inside Kaseya Center.
This marks the first time they have started 0-2 since 2022-23 and the first time they have lost both their first two home games since 2023-24, when it started 1-4.
The Heat shot just 38.2 percent from the floor and 15-of-51 from 3-point range. More importantly, the two shooters they acquired this summer — Klay Thompson and Tim Hardaway Jr. — combined to go 4-of-16 from deep; Davion Mitchell shot 3-of-9 from deep, despite finishing with 18 points, five assists and two blocks; Andrew Wiggins was 1-of-6 from deep; Pelle Larsson was also 1-of-4.
Bam Adebayo played one of his worst games in a Heat uniform. Adebayo picked three first-quarter fouls and had just two rebounds to his name in the first half. He had six points, six rebounds, three assists and two steals, but looked three steps too slow the whoel night.
Detroit withstood an early injury from Jalen Duren, who played just 10 minutes before departing with a hamstring injury. Paul Reed stepped in and provided a massive impact, tallying 19 points with 11 rebounds. From the opening tip, the newest Piston, John Collins, had 23 points on 5-of-6 from deep.
The greatest shooter in Heat history, Duncan Robinson, also had a great night, scoring 17 points with five threes.
Overall, it was another sluggish performance from Miami. They are shooting well, they aren’t defending well and they’re getting outhustled on the glass and on loose balls.
They hit the road for their first road trip of the new season, completing the second leg of a back-to-back tomorrow night against teh Charlotte Hornets.
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I think I’m on HHH double secret probation. All my comments are being flagged for approval…even the benign ones. Is it something I said?
Sometimes it happens if there is an embedded link or even quotation marks.
Neither. Happening with all posts regardless of subject or length.
Sure didn’t take long to see. Little to no chemistry. Love Davion but Heat guard play inadequate…he needs a running mate. The shooters…what shooters? Bam? Maybe recruit his girlfriend. Defense and/or running game? Both require youth & quickness. Spo? Still stubborn as ever.
Spo & Riley need to put their heads together and come up with viable solutions. They couldn’t possibly have taken such a huge risk acquiring Giannis without fallback positions (e.g., Plan B, Plan C etc).
They are both strategic thinkers. Now is the time for them to bring their A games.
wiggy 30 niko 15 bam 55 that didnt help all 3 overpaid sb 20 0 35
I know the it’s just two games and don’t over react thoughts are applicable, but there are things we can learn this early and we have been exposed as not nearly as good as we were hoping we would be. The lack of a playmaker, a shooting guard (DeRozan, Kyrie type) is a glaring defect. Mitchell would be fine if we had real support from the two spot. After two games I can definitely say Thompson and Hardaway are inadequate. This idea that three point chuckers would give adequate spacing and that’s all we needed from the SG was a mistake. It’s worse than that as both Thompson and Hardaway are missing their threes, which they both did a lot in their last couple years, so it should be no surprise. Their defense is also barely adequate.
How do we get more? I’m not sure we can this year. So we are stuck with what is a very incomplete team. The apron and the bad contracts we gave out do not permit any adjustments probably till next year. And there are more concerning issues as Bam cannot figure out his role yet and everything looks disjointed. Niko looks like he’s going to fail again (four years may be enough chances) but we are going to continue to force him into the rotation even though Richards might be the answer in his spot. Even Wiggins seems a little lost out there. We seem to have no team identity, no heart.
There are some bright spots as Giannis is everything a superstar is supposed to be. And Portis can be counted on for solid contributions. Mitchell is doing all he is asked of and Pelle still does all the little things right. And Bam and Andrew will eventually figure out how to contribute. And, I think Richard’s might be a hidden gem. Despite the bad start, we are still only one more major talent acquisition at the SG position away from being highly competitive.
But, these blow outs are happening while we are fully healthy. You know where this can lead if this losing goes on much longer, Giannis will get discouraged and then get injured. Things could go south real fast. One things for sure after two games, we need more. It’s not too early to state that this team will not compete for more than a first round exit. We have to bring in more talent or just blow it up. We can’t stand Pat.
It’s on Riley and Spo to fix it asap. Otherwise, it may turn into a very, very long season.
kyrie?
Its a deja vu game, but at least they scored a bit more and got a bit less. In a 5 or so games we will see a close game.
On the surface, there are defense and shooting issues, which could be fixed. But underneath there could be more. There is certainly a balance Giannis/the rest of the team issue. And most worrisome, there can be playmaking issue. 5 minutes from Dru immediately made a positive impression.
And I dont thing Giannis had a good game.
i thought drus smothering defense on cc was fantastic with doubles coming from bp looked like it was turning our way and then spobot pulls him wtf u doing top 15.a real coaching mistake by top 15 i thought
You warned us about both Hardaway and Thompson, that their three point shooting, when off, rendered them pretty useless.
I warned about expecting too much from them. But what we saw is bellow their level. They will be better, but not for much.
I know that +- stats is rarely a good indications, but it is in this case. In both games starters were close to or over -20 on average, and bench players close to 0 on average.
But of course, that only means that starting lineup is a huge problem right now, and bench doesn’t bring anything on the table.
Miami has played two games with red hot opponent 3PT shooting, 21 and 18 3PM. They are doing a good job limiting paint scoring and are losing on defense with 3PT variance.
Ant and LaMelo 14-30 3PT vs Miami, 4-17 vs ORL tonight on similar looks. Then Detroit is on a crazy streak from 3 since the 2nd half vs Boston to tonights game.
Next is a team with a lot of shooters but missing its entire starting backcourt in CHA.
The problem is our perimeter defense.
The problem is players are confused. Giannis sucks all the air out of teamwork. He’s a one man show without a wingman. Bam is over his head as #2. A trade is probably only option.
The problem is the defense in general. Looks like the team has no clear defensive strategies/ structure so players are improvising on the fly. It ain’t working.
The same goes with offense. Give it to Giannis and stand around waiting for him to do something. Basketball is a team sport. One man shows do not work.
I see it the same. Our opponents are getting good looks on many of their shots.
their red hot cause our d suks pls watch the games not your trusted internet sites
We better beat Charlotte. They lost much worse than us last night. Their fans were booing them. If you look at who the Hornets dressed for that game, I believe you will find it was easily the least talented in the league.
Well if we can’t beat Charlotte, then I don’t know who we want to beat
Sacramento, if we catch them on a bad day.
HOUSTON WE HAVE A PROBLEM…OR 2
Miami Heat top 8 rotation player averages after 2 games
Giannis 35.5 ppg/ 9.0 rpg / 3 apg (A+)
Mitchell: 14.5 ppg / 1.0 rpg / 8.0 apg (A-)
Portis: 9.0 ppg / 6.0 rpg / 1.5 apg (B)
Wiggins: 9.5 ppg / 5.0 rpg / 1.5 apg (C)
Bam: 9.5 ppg/ 6.5 rpg / 3.5 apg (D)
Thompson: 8.0 ppg / 1.5 rpg / 1.0 apg (D)
Larsson: 4.5 ppg / 2.5 rpg / 2.5 apg (F)
Jovic: 4.5 ppg / 4.0 rpg / 1.5 apg (F)
P.S. Miami is scoring 108.5 ppg and giving up 129.5 ppg (over/under average -21 ppg)
I think Larsson and Jovic are among better players in the team right now. Bam, Wiggins, Thompson, THJ are definitely worse.
If two guys averaging 4.5 ppg are among your best players, your team is in deep trouble.
It is..
comeon vagi theyve all been pretty bad but nikos been up and down his whole career which means hes no good cant be counted on c ya .pelles been tough sob good driver not the quickest cat on block just cant shoot it very well.pelle imo an 8th 9th guy ,hardaway jr is at best average player.thompson might be done a top 5 shooter all time need to see 10-15 more games of him first ballot hofer imo .wiggins solid nba player a rotation/starter type.bams borderline all star player great #3 option not a #2.as 30 so accurately pointed out need help.in bc.richards needs to play hes 7ft fairly agile looks like he can shoot it a little bit.he needs to grab nikos minutes.why do they have to shove niko down our throats jesus christ spobot/pat wtf is wrong with u guys.havent u seen enough.btw im a big time heat fan as much as rc just want best for team nothing against niko just basing it on oncourt performance
I see what you do. I wish it wasn’t so and I really tried this time to give Niko a chance. But, honestly, some of the most awkward moments any player ever has are occurring with Niko in. His stats didn’t look bad last night but the eye test on him is pretty rough and Spo saw it too. Hence, he was not played as much in the second half. He still warrants another chance or two, but I’m not optimistic. And the good news is Richards can likely fill in adequately for him. And Fonzi needs some run there too.
I agree about Simone and Richards, but I think Niko plays better then he was.
he didnt play a minute in second half those rebounds which were close to him were going in opponents hands must of had at least 5 oppts for a board slow jumper slow reactions bros are cat quick little things that matter hes not good at,he was guarded mostly by huerter couldnt do anything versus him.no 30 ive seen enough.go canes.go heat.go panthers.go fins .go marlins thats about it for goes.
Niko was good defensively, scored only 5 points in 13 minutes, and he was as good (or bad) as klay (6 in 24), wigg (8 in 25), Bam (4 in 23)THJ( 8 in 21), Pelle (7 in 29), but by far more effective then those.
I do now, that he is not the right man right now to count on him to close the lead, but the others playing were not too.
There should be Dru playing more, Simone should play, and Richards should play too. This one was on Spo.
theres enough on niko knowing he is not consistently good 4 ears pretty good sample size.bam is a proven good player not great or ss but a #3 option.klays resumer gives him a longer leash hofer ,might be done might not need to see more.pelles a bench player never should get morethan 15 mins a game just not that dynamic of a player personally id rather see crazy man gardner in there he has such a short spo leash,not a spo fav the gardner.richards size and skills need to see him in there.for niko.drus size wasa factor on cc but dumbot pulled him after 5 minutes.first spo scratcherof the year.expect about 80 more.guys just another coach with great talent he was gifted so therefore he will go down as a great coach.prob case with phil red pat talent wins coaches dont .football diff story
I’m going to give you some credit. A lot of the time people think you are jumping to conclusions and they think your observations are invalid. And, in truth, that does occasionally happen. But, mostly it’s just you see and evaluate things faster than most people from watching basketball a long time. The one way I think you err occasionally is the knee jerk blame it on the white guy perspective. Ty was way better than you gave him credit for. And, to a lesser extent, Dunc too. Great offense is to be valued even when it comes with weak defense. But, I’d say four out of five times, your very quick assessments turn out correct. And, best of all, you’re fearless about saying what you think.
I agree, h4l says what is on his mind knowing folks won’t always agree with him. Hey, this is America. For the time being, we are still able to say what is on our minds.
Was there the last 2 games at home and all I can say is….. EMBARRASSING smh. They need to figure it out and help out giannis. If we end up a play-in team again with a 1st round exit, then we should trade bam and giannis to the highest bidder, tell Riley to retire, and spo steps down or take Riley spot.
After the season Riley can negotiate with Milwaukee for a refund and return of Jaime Jaquez Jr., Kel’el Ware, Kasparas Jakučionis, the player selected with the Heat’s former 13th pick in the 2026 NBA Draft (Nate Ament), First‑round picks in 2031 and 2033, a 2030 first‑round pick swap, and a 2033 second‑round pick plus acceptable player/players to match Giannis salary. Sound like a plan?
this is not a finished product,the honeymoon for greek will end by november if this trend keeps up .pats got the periscope up for good guard vets on bad teams.it was pretty obvious the bc needed help before season started.not sure if we are able to trade now or have to wait til feb(rc would know that) but a kyrie jrue or maybe zach lavine type is needed for our friend from greece.if we wind up a playin team its all on pat.as ive said before and will maintain til death players determine teams fates not coaches.
ID LOVE to get the highway back believe hes a fa next year (rc would know that)hes twice the player hard jr.hard jr cant even make ts.but we love the hardaway name down here.if his last name was czech do u think hed be here.maybe pat didnt realize sr and junior have diff games
After these two games, I’m like Sgt. Schultz – “I know nothing “.
Hey! You’re here to contribute controversial opinions to the group’s discussions. Don’t hold back You’re among friends… mostly. Tell us how you really feel. I don’t care let it all hang out.
Okay. All the chicken littles, sky is falling, negative Nellies have exploded out of the woodwork after 2 games. Criticism is warranted for sure – constructive criticism, not hand wringing whining. But it’s exactly as I expected. I said after the trade that produced so much euphoria in several here, that if things went south, they would be the biggest complainers. But I admit I didn’t expect it this quickly.
You, and I accepted and looked at the positive side of the trade even though we, and several others, saw the potential of building with youth and retaining those draft picks.
There is no doubt that more talent is needed on this team, whether it is developed internally or via trade. But I believe they will get it together and be competitive as soon as they break away from this insane give the ball to Giannis and stand back approach. This team didn’t do that with LeBron and the big 3. Without the contributions from players like Chalmers, Battier, Miller, Allen, Birdman, they couldn’t have achieved what they did.
Thanks RC. That’s what I wanted to hear, your straight forward objective analysis.
You are right. We both thought building the team via the draft, trades, free agency and internal development was the way to go. However, once the decision to trade for Giannis was made, we accepted the inevitable and put on our happy faces and tried to think positively.
Others didn’t have the patience to build a team the old way. They wanted to bypass the proven process in exchange for instant gratification. They were willing to take a huge gamble and trade away tomorrow for today.
I think the first thing Spo should do now is insert Larsson back into the starting unit. If nothing else, the defense should be stable to start the game. 27-10 halfway through the first quarter is friggin embarrassing. Let Thompson and Hardaway fight it out for backup minutes.
I can already see the frustration on Giannis’ face. Spo needs to figure things out quickly. Remember, the Greek still has the option to walk away this summer and sign a new contract elsewhere if he is not happy. That being the case, I think Spo has until the end of December to figure everything out and get the team on the right track. Otherwise, Riley better be prepared to make a move before the trade deadline to unload Giannis to the highest bidder.
The pressure is on Riley, Spo and the players to produce…now! The window to do so will only be open for the next two months. Then everything will change, since Giannis has the option not to sign an extension in January and to walk away at the end of the season.
Meanwhile, there is a line from a “B movie” regarding an end of the world event that left only three survivors, two sisters and a gay dude. As soon one sister said to the other, “things may get pretty interesting around here, Regina.”
Bucks would be fools not to extend him. Probably 4 years/ $80-$100M.
I would be cool with that, hopefully we start to play better.
That may seem like a crazy idea this early, but if this trend continues for twenty games and we go 5-15, then we should either somehow get more, a real SG, or blow it up and start over. This may be a very incomplete, incompatible team. And that’s when we are fully healthy.
Incompatible is the right word!
Sounds like my relationships with my ex-wives.. Like trying to put a square peg in a round hole. It doesn’t fit regardless how hard you try to force it to do so.
zach lavine tingle your toes get kyrie do u drink a green lizzard to that jrue holiday makes u want to ride with your windows down.rip mad dog
LaVine is a no defense playing ball hog. Other than that he’s a really swell guy.
I hope the trend doesn’t continue, or we’re going to be in trouble, especially being incompatible, a real sg would help, if possible to get one. Just hoping for the best.
Watching the past 2 games has been like experiencing slow death by a thousand cuts.
In other news, Milwaukee Bucks lost tonight 132-125 to the Bulls and play the Sixers tomorrow (7:30 PM ET on NBA-TV).
*Powell had 25 points tonight and 15 points on Wednesday. 2 game average: 20.0 ppg
herro last game took 24 shots thats 4 games for dav.im worried about that bucks game now.u know herros gonna take like 25 shots and him and bam will be on the same court.maybe herro will be hurt by then hes made of glass.jjj loved miami hes a so cal kid prob hates milw winters.
And he’s probably slightly pissed at Miami for exiling him there. It’s like friggin Siberia.
Those stats are pretty impressive but the Bucks are 0-2 and they didn’t play the quality of teams we did. Those same guys fell apart down the stretch against the Wizards, and it looks like the same thing happened against the Bulls. I miss Tyler and Ware a little, but I’m happy with Giannis. We just have the same problem we did with Butler, only more so, lack of enough talent around him.
Milwaukee was expected to be #29 or #30 team in NBA. Miami wasn’t.
butler had same issue to bam was his second best player on team.if bam is your second best player your prob 8th seed going home early
that port bc way overcrowded any one of 4 would do.heat bucks could be close game
I am no coach but I think the offense could benefit from incorporating more high-low actions and inverted pick-and-rolls to maximize both Bam Adebayo’s and Giannis Antetokounmpo’s strengths.
For example, when Giannis drives downhill and draws multiple defenders, Bam could position himself around the elbow as a passing outlet, provided the passing lane is open. Once Bam receives the ball, he can read the defense and choose between a dribble handoff, a quick feed to Giannis sealing near the rim, an open midrange jumper, a short-roll pass, or a backdoor pass to a cutting teammate.
The important part is that Bam shouldn’t become stationary after making his decision. Depending on how the defense reacts, he can set a screen for a shooter, roll toward the rim, cut into open space, or relocate to maintain a useful passing angle. Combining these actions with inverted pick-and-rolls could give the offense more ways to create mismatches, exploit defensive rotations, and keep both bigs involved without forcing Bam to rely on three-point shooting or isolation scoring.
impressive stuff here does spo read this site how can we get this to top 15.makes sense bam looks lost in space if your old u remember that show
Hfl and I disagree on a fair number of issues, but not this! Excellent analysis and suggestions.
one thing we have in common we are big time heat fans i see alot more negative things than u do .u seem to overlook the negativity alot therfore the nickname homer.
A fair-weather fan, someone who only supports a team when it’s winning. True fans are die-hards — they experience, in equal measure, the grief and the joy.
And by definition, fair weather fan describes you accurately. Die hard fan describes me and is quite different from a homer, if you actually take the time to look it up
Miami’s offense should be feeding off the defense. Unfortunately, the defense and offense are both out of sync and have gone to hell at the same time.
Spo should fix the defense first and the offense will follow.
I miss the breakneck pace when the “Jaime Highway” was wide open for busines. No mas Jaime…no mas highway.
There are too many weaknesses in the team’s current player composition. All the parts do not fit.
Riley has more work to do. Giannis isn’t able to carry the whole team on his back.
should bes stop it is what it is lebron.i should have been a good poster if i could only have .maybe one day if i knew how to then i will be a good poster.but i will practice that cause i should be better
Good comments. I think that takes a little time but they will figure some things out. These blowouts were bad because they were worst case scenarios against veteran teams while we are having to learn new roles. If we played the Wolves and Pistons a month from now we would still lose, but not as bad.
Mama said…………
knock u out
Mama told you not to come…
3 dog night great song
Que sera sera
Mama don’t dance and daddy don’t rock & roll.
wasnt big fan of loggins and messina
Mama tried to raise me better, but her pleading i denied.
That leaves no-one for me to blame, cause mama tried
Wow, going deep into music history there. I can appreciate different music genres. Some are more narrowly focused. Different strokes for different folks as they say.
Good music is good music…no matter the genre or the language. I appreciate diverse sounds, instruments, rhythms. I also appreciate and embrace a diverse society. Every culture has something valuable to contribute.
I turned 21 in prison doing life without parole.