Heat hold off the Bucks 106-103 to secure sixth straight victory

The Miami Heat extended to a six-game winning streak on Wednesday night over the Bucks, led by Tyler Herro’s game-high 29 points on 60% shooting.
(Photo via NBA.com)

The dominant start to the Miami Heat’s 2025-26 season continued on Wednesday, as the Heat held off the visiting Milwaukee Bucks down the stretch to earn their sixth-straight win. It was a final score of 106-103, as the team improved to an impressive 13-6 record.

They are also now 9-1 at home, and have won nine of their last 11 games. The Heat sit at the third seed in the East and just 1.0 game out of second. The last time Miami has started a season this well, they made the NBA Finals.

The Heat open the season 13-6.

Each time they’ve won at least 13 games in the first 19 under Spo:

’12: 14-5, won championship
’13: 14-5, won championship
’14: 14-5, made finals
’20: 14-5, made finals
’25: 13-6, TBD

— Naveen Ganglani (@naveenganglani) November 27, 2025

Tyler Herro led the way in this NBA Cup matchup, scorching the Bucks with a game-high 29 points on 9 of 15 shooting (60%) to go along with 7 assists and 5 rebounds. He also added one block and one steal. It’s safe to say there hasn’t been much rust for Herro after being sidelined for the team’s first 17 games while working himself back from offseason ankle surgery. He has instantly inserted himself into the Heat’s number one option offensively again, picking up from his All-Star campaign last year.

It was also the first game that Herro played alongside Norman Powell in the backcourt. Powell missed the Heat’s previous game with a groin strain, and he struggled shooting in this one. Powell scored just 11 points on 4 of 11 shooting, 0 of 5 from 3-point range, in his 29 minutes.

Prior to this game, Powell was averaging a career-high 25.4 points per game. Now he will need to adjust offensively with Herro back in the fold. Powell’s usage and shot attempts were down in this matchup compared to taking on a focal point of the offense in Herro’s absence.

Bam Adebayo also added a 17 points, 11 rebounds double-double. Kel’el Ware was relegated back to the bench with Herro and Powell in the lineup, but still contributed an efficient outing of 11 points and 9 boards in 26 minutes.

With Giannis Antetokounmpo sidelined, coach Erik Spoelstra seemingly matched up with size in keeping Davion Mitchell in the first unit. The starting lineup could be fluid on a game-to-game basis based on opposing teams matchups, as the Heat’s depth has the ability to go either big or small. Mitchell was quiet offensively in this one but still led the offense with 9 assists.

With a fully healthy roster, Miami’s bench featured mainly a four-man rotation of Ware, Dru Smith, Jaime Jaquez Jr. and Pelle Larsson. Nikola Jovic was the odd man out entirely— receiving zero minutes of playing time amid his struggles to begin the season.

In Antetokounmpo’s absence, Milwaukee was led by Myles Turner’s 24 points and Ryan Rollins’ 26 points, respectively. The Bucks shot 42% from the field compared to the Heat’s 46%, along with a slight edge in 3-point shooting. It was a tight game throughout, although the Heat were able to finish it off once again.

Miami’s next game will be their biggest test of the season, as they will host the top seeded Detroit Pistons on Saturday night.

Heat hold off the Bucks 106-103 to secure sixth straight victory

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