There have been criticisms, and we cannot say they were unexpected. The Miami Heat have plenty of spotlight turned toward them after sealing Giannis Antetokounmpo’s signing in the summer, and for that reason they are being analyzed in great detail.
Watching them start 0-4 was quite a surprise, and although the sample was small, alarms were raised. A lack of fit, shallow depth, a defense that leaked points non-stop… A lot has been said, but today is not the day to discuss that, but rather to focus on the first major combined performance of the aforementioned Antetokounmpo and Bam Adebayo.
Against a team of Cavaliers’ stature, the newly minted Heat star posted 37 points and 9 rebounds, while the center accompanied him at a high level with another 37 points and 12 rebounds. With them at the helm, Miami dominated the Cavaliers to finish 133-121.
“Bam played excellently, with aggression, reaching his preferred spots. I did the same. Each game will be different. There will be moments, like tonight, when we can assert our superiority over other inside players, but we cannot force the situations,” states The Greek Freak about what happened against Ohio. Here is how it unfolded.
Miami’s rise is evident. With last night’s victory, they move to 2-0 in the NBA Cup and reach a 50 percent mark in the regular season (6-6) after winning six of their last eight games.
Giannis Antetokounmpo sees the goal far away
Far from sounding any victory bells, the Greek player wants to be as cautious as he is ambitious. He thus asserts that while he is improving, there is still a long road to travel to become the team they want.
“We are making progress in mutual trust. We must keep working with discretion and humility. There is still a lot to do. We’re not even close to our objective. There is still a lot of work ahead,” he concludes.
