Giannis Posts First Heat Triple-Double but Mavericks Win 113-109

By Taki Panos

Giannis Antetokounmpo did just about everything a basketball player can do on Monday night, and it still was not enough. The Greek superstar posted his first triple-double as a member of the Miami Heat, but the Dallas Mavericks won 113-109 at Kaseya Center on October 26, 2026, sending Miami to an 0-4 start, as the Miami Herald, the Associated Press and Eurohoops reported. Dallas forward Cooper Flagg matched him with 29 points and made the two plays that decided it.

For anyone just tuning in, this is Giannis's first season in Miami after more than a decade with the Milwaukee Bucks, and the start has been rough. He scored 35 in his debut, which we covered when the Timberwolves won the opener, then dropped 36 as the Pistons beat the Heat. On Saturday he fouled out when the Hornets beat Miami 115-110. Four games, four losses.

The line this time was the full set. Giannis finished with 29 points on 12-of-23 shooting, 11 assists and either 14 or 15 rebounds, depending on whose count you trust: the Miami Herald, Yahoo Sports and the Heat's postgame column listed 15, while Eurohoops and the HoopsNightly box score listed 14. Either way it was a triple-double in 39 minutes, and the Herald and Eurohoops both noted it was his first in a Heat uniform.

He was close to a triple-double by halftime. Yahoo Sports reported that he went into the break with 12 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists, and the Heat's own site wrote that he sealed the triple-double with more than eight minutes left in the third quarter. In between he hit threes from the top of the arc and kept finding open teammates. During one second-quarter stretch, Bobby Portis hit three straight threes, all set up by Giannis, per NBA.com.

The highlight came early in the second half. Giannis drove straight down the middle and threw down a dunk over Mavericks center Daniel Gafford, with the foul for an and-one, as the Miami Herald and NBA.com described it. The Heat's site called it one of the best dunks of the year. Gafford had already been part of a first-half scuffle with Portis after pulling Giannis to the floor on a drive, and Yahoo Sports reported that Gafford got a flagrant foul while he and Portis received offsetting technicals.

Miami led 84-83 after three quarters, per NBA.com and the HoopsNightly box score, and this looked like the night the losing streak would end. It was not. Dallas switched to a zone defense for long stretches of the fourth quarter to crowd the paint and slow Giannis down, the Herald and NBA.com reported. It worked. Shots got harder, the passing lanes got cluttered, and Miami's three-point shooting cooled off at the worst time.

The ending belonged to the Mavericks' 19-year-old. Flagg's and-one jumper helped Dallas pull seven points clear with about five minutes left, according to the Herald and NBA.com. Bam Adebayo's putback cut it to two with under a minute to play, and Miami got the stop it needed. Then Andrew Wiggins rose for a go-ahead corner three, and Flagg blocked it with 31 seconds left, as the AP and Eurohoops reported. Brutal timing.

Flagg was not done. With about 10 seconds left he drove past Wiggins and finished a layup over Giannis to make it a four-point game, per the Miami Herald and Yahoo Sports, and Miami could not answer. Flagg finished with 29 points and 11 assists, plus a pile of defensive plays. PJ Washington added 20 points, Kyrie Irving 18 and Walter Clayton Jr. 15 for Dallas, which moved to 2-2, according to the AP.

The free-throw line told the rest of the story. Miami made just 14 of its 25 free throws, while Dallas went 13 of 14, as the Herald, NBA.com and Eurohoops all pointed out. Lose by four, miss 11 free throws. Fair math. Davion Mitchell gave the Heat 21 points on 9-of-15 shooting, per NBA.com and HoopsNightly, but Miami's offense still could not keep up with what its defense was building.

And the defense really was better. NBA.com's postgame breakdown called it by far the most complete defensive effort of Miami's season, with more pressure on the ball and better communication on switches. The Heat even outrebounded Dallas and won the paint, HoopsNightly's numbers showed. The problem is that the record does not care. According to the Herald and Eurohoops, this is only the fifth time in franchise history that the Heat have started a season 0-4.

Giannis did not hide from it afterward. "I feel like sometimes you want something so bad that you kind of freeze in the moment," he said, as quoted by the Miami Herald and Fadeaway World. "As bad as it might sound, you've got to take a breath, relax and just play basketball." He added that he had lived through five- and seven-game losing streaks before, and said, "I don't like this feeling," promising to remember it once things turn around, per the same outlets.

My take: this loss stings more than the first three, but it is also the most encouraging of the four. The defense finally showed up, Giannis looked comfortable running the whole offense, and the margin came down to free throws and one block from a very good young player. That is fixable. What worries me a little is the zone. Every coach in the league just watched Dallas pack the paint, so Miami needs shooters who punish it, and soon.

Next up: the Heat visit the Atlanta Hawks at State Farm Arena on Wednesday, October 28, at 7 p.m. Eastern, which is 1 a.m. Thursday in Greece, per the AP and NBA.com. Keep an eye on our Greek Sports section for every Giannis game this season. The first win is coming. Greece is waiting.

Sources: Miami Herald, Associated Press, NBA.com, Eurohoops, Yahoo Sports, Fadeaway World, HoopsNightly.

Image: Giannis Antetokounmpo at the 2022 NBA All-Star Game, photo by Erik Drost via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0).