MIAMI — Tyler Herro scored 27 points in 24 minutes off the bench, Jimmy Butler added 21 and the Miami Heat opened their season with an easy 137-95 victory over the NBA champion Milwaukee Bucks on Thursday night (Friday, Manila time).
Heat vs Bucks recap
Bam Adebayo had 20 points and 13 rebounds for the Heat, who set team records for opening night scoring and opening night margin of victory. It was nearly the biggest margin of victory in any game — falling just short of a 43-point win over the Los Angeles Clippers in 1994.
The previous team record for points in an opener was 128 points against Detroit in 1999, and the biggest margin of victory was 26 points over Orlando in 2000.
Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 15 points and Grayson Allen added 14 for Milwaukee. Olympic gold medalist Khris Middleton had 10 points on 4-for-14 shooting for the Bucks, who were without, among others, Jrue Holiday (right heel), Brook Lopez (back) and Bobby Portis (left hamstring). Miami outrebounded Milwaukee 58-38.
P.J. Tucker started his Miami debut, against the team that he helped win an NBA title a few months ago, and had eight points and six rebounds.
Tucker committed Miami's first foul of the game, a reintroduction to Antetokounmpo just 38 seconds into the game. And in the second quarter, Tucker chased down a loose ball and went airborne — crashing into the Milwaukee bench and ending up saying hello to occupants of some of the most expensive seats in the sold-out arena.
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