The Miami Heat won their opening game of the 2021-22 National Basketball Association regular season. But it is who they beat and the way they won that deserves headlines. Just 48 hours after the Milwaukee Bucks hammered the Brooklyn Nets 127-104, the Heat came through with a remarkable 137-95 win over the Bucks, the reigning NBA Finals champions.
The 42-point victory was the second largest win in Heat franchise history. The largest Miami win was 43 points, which was set on December 29, 1994 in a 126-83 win over the Los Angeles Clippers according to landofbasketball.com.
In the Heat win over the Bucks on Thursday, Miami got off to a fantastic start. They outscored Milwaukee 40-17 after the first quarter, and proceeded to win every other quarter thereafter. The Heat won the second quarter and fourth quarters 32-26, and the third quarter 33-26.
Ironically, it was guard Tyler Herro, a native of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, who led the Heat in points in scoring with 27 points. Herro had three more points than minutes played (24), as he only played in half the game in coming off the bench. Three more Heat players reached double digits in scoring as swingman Jimmy Butler of Houston, Texas had 21 points, center Bam Adebayo of Newark. New Jersey had 20 points, and center Dewayne Dedmon had 13 points. Adebayo had a double double, as he added 13 rebounds.
It was a horrendous night for the Bucks defensively. Bucks guard Justin Robinson was a terrible -35. Every single Heat player was a plus. Power forward P.J. Tucker, who was playing in his first career game with the Heat, was a +31. Meanwhile, Heat point guard Kyle Lowry, who was also playing in his first game with Miami, injured his ankle, and it will be interesting to see if he plays Saturday against Indiana.
