The Miami Heat played their season opener last night vs. the Milwaukee Bucks and it was everything a fan would dream of. The Heat routed the Bucks in a whopping 137-95 win.
Everything went Miami’s way from the very beginning. They even managed to start the game on a 32-7 run, asserting themselves from the get-go.
This game really set the tone for the rest of the season, and now the team has a great start to build off of. There isn’t much more the team could have asked for from its players.
What are the top takeaways from such a resounding win in the season opener? What should fans be thinking about moving forward?
Takeaways from the Miami Heat win vs. the Milwaukee Bucks: Kyle Lowry needs to be careful
Okay, it was definitely a freak injury, but people would be lying if they said their heart didn’t drop when Kyle Lowry left the game. He rolled his ankle when driving to the basket and subsequently limped off the court.
It’s never fun to see players get hurt, but it’s especially not fun in the first game of the season. On top of that, it’s an even worse feeling when that guy is someone who the team just paid this offseason.
At 35 years old, Lowry isn’t getting any younger, and neither are his bones. He’s definitely not an injury-prone player, but for the sake of Heat fans’ hearts, he just has to be careful.
Once again, it’s important to note that this was a freak injury, and he eventually came back into the game. However, that doesn’t make the moment itself any less scary for everyone watching.
Takeaways from the Miami Heat win vs. the Milwaukee Bucks: The Heat embody team basketball
For the entirety of the game, it was clear what the game plan was – move the ball, play great defense, and do whatever it takes to find open shots.
Well, the Miami Heat just did, scoring 137 points in their first game of the season. The craziest part about it, though, is that it was far from a one-man show.
Usually, when a team scores a ton of points it’s one or two players doing most of the damage. Just look at what Stephen Curry and Jaylen Brown have done in recent days.
However, the Heat scored their points in a different way. Three players scored 20 or more points, one more had over ten, but no one else eclipsed the double-digit mark.
13 different players scored for the Miami Heat last night. The only player who touched the floor and didn’t score a point was two-way player Marcus Garett.
Erik Spoelstra played everyone on the roster outside of Udonis Haslem. It was a truly incredible thing to watch the Heat get contributions from everyone.
Sure, the Milwaukee Bucks were missing a couple of key players, but that doesn’t take away from how good the Heat looked. They deserve all the credit in the world for how well they played on both ends of the floor.
Takeaways from the Miami Heat win vs. the Milwaukee Bucks: Don’t get too excited just yet
It’s an awesome feeling to see your favorite team go out and dominate in the manner that the Miami Heat did last night. However, it’s just the first game of the season.
They still have 81 games to go before the playoffs, and, hopefully, plenty more games after that. Not every game is going to go this swimmingly (but if it did that would be great).
Losses will come, struggles will come, and tough breaks will come. No team has ever gone 82-0, and as much as Miami Heat fans can dream, that is simply not a realistic goal to have.
Take the time to celebrate this win and feel good about what the Heat did, but don’t get on your high horse quite yet. There’s still a lot of work to do this year.
One can only imagine that this is the exact thing Erik Spoelstra is telling his team right now. It would be crazy to think that he’s not finding little things for them to improve upon already.
This was a phenomenal start to the season and something that they can build upon with ease. However, as the late, great Kobe Bryant once said – “job’s not finished.”