Giannis Antetokounmpo scores 14 and fouls out as the Heat drop to 0-3 at Charlotte

The Miami Heat are 0-3 with Giannis Antetokounmpo, and Saturday's 115-110 loss at Charlotte was the strangest one yet. Antetokounmpo scored 14 points on 4-for-11 shooting in 25 minutes and fouled out with 1:57 left, and Miami came closest to winning while he was on the bench.

Antetokounmpo had averaged 35.5 points in his first two games with Miami after his offseason trade from Milwaukee, the Associated Press noted. On Saturday, foul trouble kept him on the bench while Miami made its run.

Charlotte led 92-70 with 2:55 left in the third quarter after a 24-7 run fueled by five 3-pointers, per the AP. Erik Spoelstra then went to Davion Mitchell and Bam Adebayo with reserves Pelle Larsson, Tim Hardaway Jr. and Bobby Portis, and that group tied the game at 100, 102 and 104.

Then Grayson Allen hit a 3-pointer from the left wing as the shot clock ran out, was fouled by Hardaway, and made the free throw for a 108-104 lead after the last tie with 3:46 to play. Miami never got closer than three again.

Brandon Miller led Charlotte with 34 points on 10-for-29 shooting. A night earlier, in a 128-81 home loss to Atlanta, he went 2 for 14 and 1 for 11 from 3-point range four days after signing a five-year, $209 million extension, the AP reported. Dennis Schroder scored 25, Naz Reid 23 and Allen 20. The Hornets went 16 for 43 from deep after making 11 of 51 against the Hawks.

Mitchell led Miami with 22 points and 10 assists. Adebayo had 20, Larsson 15 and Klay Thompson 14 with four 3-pointers.

The teams last met in the play-in tournament, when Charlotte's 127-126 overtime win ended Miami's 2025-26 season on LaMelo Ball's game-winner. Ball is in Minnesota now. Miami already has its new star, and three games in, it has no wins to show for him.

The Heat host Dallas on Monday. Charlotte, now 2-1, hosts Washington.