SoFla Guide Editors
It took five tries, but the Miami Heat finally have a win, and Bam Adebayo grabbed a piece of franchise history on the way. Miami beat the Atlanta Hawks 129-117 on Wednesday night in Atlanta, and Adebayo passed Udonis Haslem to become the Heat’s all-time career rebounding leader, according to NBA.com. Giannis Antetokounmpo also picked up his first victory in a Heat jersey, the Associated Press reported via WSVN 7News.
Bam passes UD
Haslem’s franchise mark sat at 5,791 career rebounds. Adebayo finished the night with 5,794, according to NBA.com. That record had stood since November 2012, so this one was a long time coming.
Adebayo did plenty more than rebound. He scored 24 points on 8-of-16 shooting and grabbed nine boards, Yahoo Sports and the Miami Herald reported.
He seemed a little short on words afterward, in the best way.
“Man, I can’t really put it into words,” Adebayo said in his on-court postgame interview in Atlanta, via NBA.com.
Erik Spoelstra had plenty to say about his big man. “It’s so well-deserved,” the Heat coach said, according to the Miami Herald via Yahoo Sports.
He went further in remarks shared by NBA.com: “He’s done it with an iron will, a work ethic that’s unmatched.”
The milestone lands at a good moment. Adebayo had been averaging 11.8 points per game through the first four games of the season and had publicly said he felt like the team’s scapegoat during the losing streak. Before this game, Spoelstra had publicly taken responsibility for finding Adebayo better offensive opportunities. On Wednesday, the looks were there.
How Giannis and Bam finally clicked
The Heat came into State Farm Arena at 0-4, their worst start since the 2007-08 season, the Miami Herald reported via Yahoo Sports. It was not exactly the opening the first year of the Antetokounmpo era was supposed to bring after the Heat traded for him from the Milwaukee Bucks on June 23, 2026.
Wednesday looked a lot more like the plan. Antetokounmpo finished with 24 points and 18 rebounds, according to the AP via WSVN 7News.
So what changed? The Sun Sentinel reportedly framed it as a new pick-and-roll scheme from Spoelstra built to unlock both Adebayo and Antetokounmpo at once. That is the paper’s description, though. In the quotes provided, Spoelstra himself did not describe the approach that way.
What is on the record is how the Heat scored. Miami shot 53% from the field and put up 70 points in the paint, the AP reported via NBC Miami. The Heat also posted a season-best offensive rating of 118.3 points per 100 possessions, according to the Miami Herald via Yahoo Sports. With two bigs this good, living in the paint is a pretty solid game plan.
Spoelstra kept his big-picture takeaway humble.
“Well, my biggest takeaway, you never take it for granted how challenging and difficult it is to win in this league,” he said in his postgame press conference, via the Miami Herald and Yahoo Sports.
The supporting cast showed up
This was not a two-man show. Andrew Wiggins scored 18 points, and Pelle Larsson filled the box score with 17 points, eight assists and six rebounds, the AP reported via NBC Miami.
Tim Hardaway Jr. gave Miami 14 points off the bench. That included a 3-pointer that pushed the Heat to their biggest lead of the night, 95-77, late in the third quarter, according to WSVN 7News via the AP.
Atlanta had its moments. Hawks rookie Kingston Flemings scored 23 points, and Nickeil Alexander-Walker matched him with 23 of his own, the AP reported via NBC Miami. Flemings, a guard, went eighth overall in the 2026 NBA Draft out of the University of Houston, according to NBA.com. Heat fans will probably be seeing plenty of him.
What’s next for the Heat
The win moves Miami to 1-4 on the season, while the Hawks fall to 2-3, according to NBA.com.
One win does not erase a rough opening week. Still, a game where Antetokounmpo and Adebayo both scored 24, the offense hit a season high and Bam put his name on top of the franchise rebounding list is a pretty good place to start a turnaround.
South Florida has been waiting for this version of the Heat since the summer. Now the job is stacking a few more nights like this one.
