MIAMI – As the Miami Heat (7-6) beat the Detroit Pistons (8-4) on Saturday night in the second game of a back-to-back, it marks another emphatic victory, making that four in a row and winning six of their last eight games. With the Heat newcomers in Giannis Antetokounmpo and Klay Thompson leading the way against the Pistons, the two-time MVP would give insight into what's led to the turnaround.

Depending on who you ask, it either feels like yesterday or a long time ago that Miami started the season 0-4, leading some in the sports world to question the validity of this team. After many attempts from some within the team saying that it's a work in progress, the last few weeks have shown that major improvements have been made on both sides of the ball.

Giannis Antetokounmpo explains what's different about the Heat

It was another stellar outing for Antetokounmpo, finishing with 34 points on 13 of 17 shooting from the field, to go along with 14 rebounds, eight assists, and three blocks. As for Thompson, he came back from an ankle injury and was dynamite with 26 points on 10 of 17 shooting from the field, making six three-pointers out of 11 attempts.

Miami is playing way more comfortably and in flow than in that 0-4 start, which included a 128-111 loss to Detroit in the second game of the season on Oct. 23. Against the same team on Saturday night, the Heat played up to the Pistons' physicality, recording 14 blocks and 10 steals, forcing them to shoot 40.2 percent from the field and 32.4 percent from deep.

For Antetokounmpo, he sees that the group is figuring each other out more, but the 31-year-old is also seeing more effort and a “competitive spirit.”

“I think we're just clicking better. We know each other's spots better, and the most important thing of all, we're competing. Our effort is way better than the first four games,” Antetokounmpo said. “We're watching the clips from before the game when we played them first, and we look like a whole different team. And it's something that we cannot take our foot off the gas pedal, especially defensively.”

“Like we had so many 50-50 balls that we're able to collect out there in the game,” Antetokounmpo continued. “We still have to do a better job rebounding the ball. Sometimes the team might get like three, four possessions, and we cannot have those, especially when we play good teams. But I think our effort is way better the last nine games.”

As Antetokounmpo mentioned about the rebounding, Miami was out-rebounded 49-46 and 22-13 on the offensive glass.

Giannis on the #Heat’s turnaround after a 0-4 start:

“Just figuring out as a team, I think we just clicking better. We know each other's spots better, and the most important thing out of all, we're competing. Our effort is way better than the first four games. We're watching… pic.twitter.com/158lLBBUzP

— Zachary Weinberger (@ZachWeinberger) November 15, 2026

Giannis Antetokounmpo credits Bam Adebayo and Myron Gardner for setting the tone behind Miami's 14 blocks and 10 steals 🔥

“It’s the competitive spirit; we are feeding off that energy right now. You know, when you see Bam try to block a shot, try to rebound, screen, roll, you… pic.twitter.com/qpUasHhndS

— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) November 15, 2026

Bam Adebayo believes the Heat can “compete with anybody”

Looking away from the statistics, the Heat are just playing with a more frenetic energy, like they have a chip on their shoulder after the poor 0-4 start. But as it should've always been expected, the team needed time to mesh, with the center of gravity drastically changing with a player like Antetokounmpo leading the charge.

Miami head coach Erik Spoelstra has said before that the first “domino” that needs to topple before everything else falls is the defensive side of the ball. The Heat have found themselves towards the bottom of the league in defensive rating, placing them 25th ahead of Sunday.

After giving up 39 to the Pistons in the first quarter, the game changed in Miami's favor with the team playing collective defense, which led to the activity level by the Heat resulting in the Pistons scoring 21 points in the second quarter and 26 in the third period.

“We knew that was too much; we knew we're better than that defensively, and obviously we revert back to how we were letting people score in the first four games,” Adebayo said to ClutchPoints. “So for us, obviously, we got more steals. We got more active. Got more blocks. Like I said, we're a hard team to beat when we get in transition.”

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Adebayo continued to gel alongside Antetokounmpo; coming off a 37-point, 14-rebound game, he played well once again, recording 20 points, five rebounds, four assists, three steals, and two blocks. For him, Miami can “compete with anybody.”

“We’re still trying to make this energy shift, but we see what we're capable of after the nine. We see we can compete with anybody,” Adebayo said.

At any rate, the Heat look to keep the winning ways going, as the team hosts the Houston Rockets on Monday night.