MIAMI – With a new era starting for the Miami Heat with Giannis Antetokounmpo at the forefront, it began with disappointment as the team dropped the regular-season opener to the Minnesota Timberwolves on Wednesday night, 131-106. As Antetokounmpo enters his first week of the regular season with the Heat, he wouldn't hold back on the issues that plagued the team in the opener.

Individually, Antetokounmpo gave Miami a taste of what's to come with 35 points on 13 of 19 shooting from the field, nine of 14 from the free-throw line, to go along with six rebounds and one assist against the Timberwolves. While the Kaseya Center was buzzing before tip-off, with even Antetokounmpo getting “MVP” chants early on into the game as his talents were on full display, the team effort deteriorated as the contest went on.

As one could've predicted, with the Heat subtracing the roster and adding Antetokounmpo, Klay Thompson, and others, a slow start was to be expected. One key trait that will continue to build is the “trust” in one another, which Antetokounmpo highlighted after the game as answering what went wrong in the loss.

“Trust. We have to trust what we're doing; we got to trust what we've been working on,” Antetokounmpo said. “I don’t know if it’s jitters or excitement from the first game of the season, but we gotta be better. Our offense gotta be better. We have to trust one another. Our trust can’t go out the window. When things don’t go our way, we have to dig in and trust one another even more. Which is something we didn't do tonight. Hopefully we can do it in the game.”

Giannis kept saying throughout his post-game presser that “trust” needs to continue to be built between one another after the regular season opener:

“We just got to trust what we’ve done…” #Heat pic.twitter.com/X0AXZzkag2

— Zachary Weinberger (@ZachWeinberger) October 22, 2026

Heat's Giannis Antetokounmpo on why he doesn't feel good after loss

The Timberwolves overwhelmed the Heat with their offense, especially from star Anthony Edwards with his 45 points and 10 rebounds and their newcomer in LaMelo Ball, who finished with 21 points and six assists. Minnesota ended up shooting 46.9 percent from the field and made 21 out of 50 attempts from three-point range, compared to Miami making 48.1 percent of their shots from the field and only making eight threes out of 33 attempts.

While Antetokounmpo had a standout game individually, he doesn't feel good coming out of the loss, explaining what it takes for him to feel satisfied, hoping to get that feeling on Friday night against the Detroit Pistons.

“I feel good when the team plays good, when things are clicking. When we play with the rhythm, when we play with great pace, when we win games, that's when I feel good. Hopefully Friday,” Antetokounmpo said.

Despite his 35-point, 6-reb night, Giannis doesn’t feel good after the opening loss, explains he feels good when the team is clicking: #Heat pic.twitter.com/qjneVZg426

— Zachary Weinberger (@ZachWeinberger) October 22, 2026

Giannis Antetokounmpo takes accountability for Heat's efforts

If there was one uncharacteristic aspect of the Heat's loss on Wednesday night, it was the lack of extra-effort plays, especially defensively, as head coach Erik Spoelstra points out.

“[Edwards] felt comfortable all night long,” Spoelstra said to ClutchPoints. “We never really got him thinking about anything else other than the rim, and so we're going to have to step up our defense, we know that, and it's going to have to be all across the board with effort and disruptiveness, and these effort plays. We are capable of doing it. We're just going to have to get a lot better, you know, at committing to it. All five guys on the floor.”

Asked Erik Spoelstra about how the Wolves took control of the game: #Heat

“Edwards…he felt comfortable all night long. We never really got him thinking about anything else other than the rim, and so we're going to have to step up our defense. We know that, and it's going to… pic.twitter.com/iXyCrDI5fD

— Zachary Weinberger (@ZachWeinberger) October 22, 2026

When it comes to the overall effort of Miami, Antetokounmpo took accountability, saying it “starts” with him.

“Our effort got to be way better. Starts with me,” Antetokounmpo said. “My effort got to be better. My effort was not as good as in the past. They scored 130 points in our house. I have to be better; it starts with me. I got to set the tone.”

“Our effort has to be better, it starts with me…” – Giannis after the #Heat’s opening loss: pic.twitter.com/cgXQxqiCSw

— Zachary Weinberger (@ZachWeinberger) October 22, 2026

The Heat were uncharacteristic to start Giannis Antetokounmpo era

If there was a recurring theme in Antetokounmpo's first post-game press conference in the regular season, it was that “trust” needs to be at the forefront of how the Heat play.

“We weren't ourselves today, I think everybody knows it…If we want to go where we want to go, where we believe we can go as a team. We have to respond, and we have to be better,” Antetokounmpo said.

“If we want to go where we want to go, where we believe we can go as a team. We have to respond, and we have to be better,” – Giannis #Heat pic.twitter.com/1NnYMdR6ld

— Zachary Weinberger (@ZachWeinberger) October 22, 2026

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Another surprising outcome of Miami's loss was the one assist recorded by Antetokounmpo, as his playmaking and feeding others the ball are going to be crucial this season. While Antetokounmpo was a “force of nature,” as Spoelstra said, the Heat didn't recognize how they played on offense.

“We were also doing things that were uncharacteristic: walking the ball up, you know, waving for play calls, playing on one side of the floor, one-pass shots that were contested, and then just leaving it to one shot, the plays in the margins. We're also going to have to get better at that, forcing more turnovers, taking care of the basketball. They basically won all those departments.”

Along with Miami committing 18 turnovers, Bam Adebayo highlighted to ClutchPoints the two “muscle areas” that the team needs to improve on, which are their rebounding and allowing second-chance points. The Timberwolves out-rebounded the Heat, 52-34, and it was more drastic on the offensive glass, 17-4, to go along with Minnesota's 20 second-chance points.

“We got a bigger team now, so we expect to rebound. And then, second chance, we gotta take care of those two things…We gotta take care of the big muscle areas, and I think we'll be okay,” Adebayo said.

At any rate, the Heat look to vastly improve and avoid a 0-2 start to the season as they'll host the Pistons on Friday night.