MILWAUKEE, WI —  On Monday night, Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 33 points, Damian Lillard added 25, and the Milwaukee Bucks established a 25-point lead before defeating the Miami Heat 122-114.

The Heat were missing two-time All-Star center Bam Adebayo, who hurt his hip in a loss to Minnesota on Saturday.

Tyler Herro led the Heat in scoring with 35 points.

Because of the postseason and offseason links between these two teams, this game held more intrigue than a regular October battle.

Last season, the Heat upset the top-seeded Bucks in the playoffs, winning their first-round series in five games. The Heat advanced all the way from the play-in round to the NBA Finals, while the Bucks reacted by sacking coach Mike Budenholzer and replacing him with veteran Toronto Raptors assistant Adrian Griffin.

Milwaukee made the greatest offseason move by obtaining seven-time all-NBA guard Damian Lillard, who stated a preference to play for the Heat when he requested a trade from the Portland Trail Blazers.

Miami completed dramatic comebacks in the final two games of the series to seal their playoff victory over Milwaukee, and the Heat rallied down the stretch to make it close on Monday. With playoff hero Jimmy Butler and most of their other starters on the bench, the Heat made this fourth-quarter push.

Miami cut its deficit to single digits after trailing 103-78 with less than 10 1/2 minutes remaining. With 1:22 remaining, Duncan Robinson’s jumper trimmed the margin to 115-109.

With 1:16 remaining, Antetokounmpo made a three-point play. The Bucks’ lead never fell below six points the rest of the way.

In last year’s playoffs, Miami defeated the Bucks 119-114 in Game 4 by outscoring them 30-13 in the final six minutes. The Heat overcame a 16-point fourth-quarter deficit to win the game 128-126 in overtime.