Heat Secure First Win as Antetokounmpo and Adebayo Top Hawks 129-117

Giannis Antetokounmpo collected 24 points and 18 rebounds to guide the Miami Heat to a 129-117 victory over the Atlanta Hawks on Wednesday night at State Farm Arena. The win marked Miami's first victory of the 2026-27 NBA season, successfully halting an 0-4 start following their blockbuster offseason acquisition of the two-time Most Valuable Player from the Milwaukee Bucks.

Center Bam Adebayo matched Antetokounmpo by scoring 24 points while pulling down nine rebounds. With that performance, Adebayo surpassed franchise legend Udonis Haslem to become the Heat's all-time career leader in rebounds. Miami dominated the interior throughout the contest, shooting 53 percent from the field as a team and racking up a staggering 70 points in the paint against Atlanta's defense.

The Heat received balanced contributions across their rotation, with Andrew Wiggins adding 18 points and Pelle Larsson posting 17 points, eight assists, and six rebounds. Miami seized momentum from the opening tip, hitting 15 of 23 field goal attempts in the first quarter to take a 34-25 lead. After establishing a 69-56 cushion by halftime, the Heat pushed their advantage to a game-high 18 points late in the third quarter courtesy of a three-pointer from Tim Hardaway Jr., who finished with 14 points off the bench.

Atlanta mounted a fourth-quarter comeback, cutting Miami's comfortable lead down to just four points before the Heat regained control to close out the victory. The Hawks were led by rookie Kingston Flemings and guard Nickeil Alexander-Walker, who each posted 23 points. Flemings delivered an efficient performance off the bench by converting nine of his 12 shots. Forward Jalen Johnson tallied 12 points, 11 assists, and nine rebounds, but converted just 4 of 12 shots from the field.

The loss extended Atlanta's losing streak to three games after opening the season with consecutive victories. As a team, the Hawks converted 48 percent of their field goals and connected on 16 of 38 attempts from three-point range, but their defensive lapses early on proved too difficult to overcome. Atlanta was opening a back-to-back set at home, with their subsequent matchup against the Cleveland Cavaliers pushed back an hour to accommodate Game 6 of the WNBA Finals between Atlanta and Golden State earlier in the day.

For Miami, the result relieved mounting pressure surrounding an uncharacteristically slow start to the year. Prior to the game, Adebayo publicly addressed scrutiny from external critics, expressing frustration that he had been portrayed as a scapegoat during the team's four-game slide. Adebayo had averaged 11.8 points and 7.3 rebounds over that initial stretch. While commentators had questioned whether his reduced output was related to adjusting to an offense tailored around Antetokounmpo, Adebayo rejected the notion that playing with the superstar forward had negatively impacted his numbers.

Head coach Erik Spoelstra had also spoken candidly about the team's early hurdles, previously voicing frustration with how opponents defend Antetokounmpo physically. After an earlier loss to the Charlotte Hornets, Spoelstra compared the task of officiating Antetokounmpo to that of refereeing Shaquille O’Neal during his dominant era, while maintaining that the officiating crew was not the reason Miami lost that contest.

Miami acquired Antetokounmpo and Bobby Portis during the offseason in a major transaction that sent Tyler Herro, Kel'el Ware, Jaime Jaquez Jr., Kasparas Jakucionis, and multiple first-round draft assets to Milwaukee. Having secured their breakthrough victory, the Heat return home to face the Indiana Pacers on Friday, while the Hawks attempt to rebound immediately as they host Cleveland on Thursday night.