MIAMI (AP) — Giannis Antetokounmpo has never had a better offensive start to a season. He's also never had a worse overall start to a season.
That's how badly things are going on the defensive end for the Miami Heat right now.
Antetokounmpo scored 36 points on Friday night, giving him 71 through the first two games — matching the most he's ever scored in the first two games of any season. That's the good news.
Here's the bad news: Miami is 0-2, after giving up a franchise-worst 259 points in the first two games. It's also the first time that Antetokounmpo has appeared in the first two games of a season and his team hasn't gotten a win. (Milwaukee started 0-2 in 2015-16, the lone such start of his era there, but he appeared in only one of those two games.)
“We wanted it to go well, not only for him, but for us," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. "He really cares. He wants this to work. His teammates really want this to work. We’re going to get there. It’s just not on our timeline right now, not exactly how we wanted to start the season.”
No player in Heat history has gotten off to a faster two-game offensive start than Antetokounmpo; LeBron James scored 63 points in the first two games of the 2011-12 season, when Miami went on to win the NBA title.
Antetokounmpo said he didn't expect it to be easy, especially with two good teams — Minnesota and Detroit — as Miami's first two opponents.
“Sometimes when things don’t go your way you get discouraged, your defense is not as good," Antetokounmpo said. “But at the end of the day, I feel like once we are locked in and we trust one another in all levels, offense becomes easier, defense becomes easier. And right now, it’s not where it should be, but we’ve got to keep on taking good things from the game.”
Antetokounmpo said sometimes teams need a shock — “we were definitely shocked,” he said — and that can raise the level of urgency.
And Spoelstra, as always, insists that the Heat won't run from adversity. He said training camp and preseason were good starts to the team-building process, but that tough times like these are what truly bring a team together.
“Here we are,” Spoelstra said. “We’re getting to know each other right at the beginning of the season.”
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Miami Heat forward Giannis Antetokounmpo (7) dunks over Detroit Pistons forward Ronald Holland II (5) and forward John Collins (20) during the second half of an NBA basketball game, Friday, Oct. 23, 2026, in Miami. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
Miami Heat forward Giannis Antetokounmpo (7) scores past Detroit Pistons guard Daniss Jenkins (24) during the second half of an NBA basketball game, Friday, Oct. 23, 2026, in Miami. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
Miami Heat forward Giannis Antetokounmpo (7) pushes past Detroit Pistons forward Paul Reed during the second half of an NBA basketball game, Friday, Oct. 23, 2026, in Miami. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
MILWAUKEE (AP) — A few inches here and some smarter baserunning by Victor Mesa Jr. there, and the Tampa Bay Rays might have won the World Series opener.
Mesa and Jonathan Aranda were caught stealing in consecutive innings, and the Milwaukee Brewers got a pair of run-scoring hits in a two-pitch span when hard-hit balls glanced off the gloves of center fielder Jonny DeLuca and shortstop Taylor Walls in the first.
Milwaukee came away with a 3-2 win Friday night, winning on the margins and taking advantage of the types of mistakes the Rays usually pounce on to beat opponents.
“Definitely have to be smart. We talked about that coming in,” Tampa Bay outfielder Chandler Simpson said. “They just played the game better than us today.”
DeLuca missed his attempt at a diving catch on Christian Yelich’s one-out drive in the first inning with Jackson Chourio on first base. Yelich hit an 0-2 cutter to the right-center gap and DeLuca sprinted 85 feet and sprawled. The ball bounced off his glove in front of the warning track and rolled to the wall for a go-ahead triple.
“You can’t be perfect in this game,” DeLuca said. “You’re going to fail a lot more than you’re going to succeed.”
Rays manager Kevin Cash didn't view it as a failure.
“Jonny covered a lot of ground right there to even make that play close," he said. “Highlight-reel play.”
With the infield in, William Contreras lined the next pitch at 108.4 mph. The ball glanced off the webbing of Walls' glove and into left field for an RBI single and a 2-0 lead.
“We gave ourselves plenty of opportunities, put ourselves in really good positions to score runs, to prevent runs,” Walls said. “We had some good plays where we did prevent some, and then we had some that we were inches away from maybe saving a couple more.”
With the Rays trailing 2-1 after Liam Hicks' RBI groundout in the fourth, Mesa was caught stealing third for the final out of the fifth with Yandy Díaz at the plate.
“Victor is really competing, trying to do something to make something happen, put a little pressure on the defense,” Cash said, “and it didn’t work in our favor.”
One inning later, Aranda was thrown out trying to swipe second as Simpson struck out on a low slider for an inning-ending double play.
“That’s on me, ultimately. So much trust in Chandler putting the ball in play,” Cash said. “But he had a pretty nasty pitch.”
Brewers catcher William Contreras had an excellent 1.49-second pop time in throwing out Mesa.
“Not surprised by anything that he did, but that’s not going to change our aggressive approach, certainly on the bases,” Cash said.
Tampa Bay went 0 for 6 with runners in scoring position while Milwaukee was 2 for 8. The Rays led the major leagues with a .283 RISP average during the season and the Brewers were second at .276.
“They play the same type of game we play, so we know it’s going to be close, like today was, and we're expecting that all throughout the Series,” Simpson said. “We've got to continue to play our game the best that we can and we should come out on top most of the time.”
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Milwaukee Brewers' David Hamilton is tagged out by Tampa Bay Rays third baseman Junior Caminero trying to advance on a double during the fifth inning of Game 1 of baseball's World Series, Friday, Oct. 23, 2026, in Milwaukee, between the Milwaukee Brewers and the Tampa Bay Rays. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
Tampa Bay Rays manager Kevin Cash pulls Tampa Bay Rays pitcher Garrett Cleavinger from the game during the eighth inning of Game 1 of baseball's World Series, Friday, Oct. 23, 2026, in Milwaukee, between the Milwaukee Brewers and the Tampa Bay Rays. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
Tampa Bay Rays first baseman Jonathan Aranda (8) is caught stealing by Milwaukee Brewers shortstop Cooper Pratt during the sixth inning of Game 1 of baseball's World Series, Friday, Oct. 23, 2026, in Milwaukee, between the Milwaukee Brewers and the Tampa Bay Rays. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
Tampa Bay Rays' Victor Mesa Jr. is tagged out stealing by Milwaukee Brewers third baseman David Hamilton during the fifth inning of Game 1 of baseball's World Series, Friday, Oct. 23, 2026, in Milwaukee, between the Milwaukee Brewers and the Tampa Bay Rays. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
