Karl-Anthony Towns of the Minnesota Timberwolves shoots the ball against Bam Adebayo of the Miami Heat. (Photo by Hannah Foslien/Getty Images) /
The Minnesota Timberwolves played a solid all-around game and surged ahead in the fourth quarter to defeat the Miami Heat.
The Minnesota Timberwolves played without Karl-Anthony Towns on Tuesday and Wednesday and were blown out twice.
Towns played on Friday night, and the Wolves were an entirely different team, winning the fourth quarter by a 31-18 margin and defeating the defending Eastern Conference Champion Miami Heat.
The Wolves got off to a slow start as they struggled to slow down Jimmy Butler and what is typically a mediocre Heat offense. But the defense improved mightily as the game went on.
Towns found himself in early foul trouble, and the Wolves’ offense was carried largely by their bench, including D’Angelo Russell and Naz Reid. All things considered, this was a relatively quiet Anthony Edwards game, but there were plenty of other players who picked up the slack.
The Wolves won the second quarter and pulled even by halftime. Towns started the third quarter hot, but Minnesota went through some stretches where they simply couldn’t slow down Miami’s ball-screen action, and the Heat took a five-point lead heading into the fourth quarter.
But the final frame was all Wolves, as the home team’s defense swarmed and contested shots all over the floor. Offensively, Towns was unstoppable and the Wolves got just enough from Russell, Ricky Rubio, and Juancho Hernangomez to help Minnesota surge ahead and hang onto the lead.
Towns fouled out with the Wolves up six in the final two minutes but Reid came up with a huge offensive rebound and put-back on the offensive end, followed by a fantastic assist from Edwards to get Vanderbilt a bucket that was essentially the dagger.
Butler struggled in the fourth quarter, clanking jumpers and failing to convert at the rim. Without Jimmy Buckets scoring, the Heat offense sputtered to just 18 points in the fourth, and the Wolves hung on down the stretch.
Minnesota Timberwolves Player Grades vs. Miami Heat
Other Notable Minnesota Timberwolves Players
Jordan McLaughlin only played 16 minutes but managed to put up a plus-minus of +19 while only contributing two points and three assists. His minutes were largely matched up with Russell’s, although he had brief stints of controlling the Wolves’ offense as the lone point guard on the floor.
Jake Layman was part of the first wave of subs early in the game but didn’t see the floor again after a five-minute stint that saw him fail to record a single statistic.
Next up for the Minnesota Timberwolves
The Wolves head out on a four-game West Coast road trip beginning with a 9 p.m. CT tip against the LA Clippers on Sunday.