On Monday night, the Minnesota Timberwolves shut down the Miami Heat 112-108 in the second half behind 32 points from Anthony Edwards and 18 more from Karl-Anthony Towns.
For the Timberwolves, Rudy Gobert pulled down 16 rebounds, Mike Conley scored 12 points, and Naz Reid scored 15.
With their 20-5 record, Minnesota now shares the NBA’s top record with idle Boston. After falling down by as many as 17 points in the first half, the Timberwolves surrendered just 42 points in the second half.
Following lengthy injury absences, Tyler Herro and Bam Adebayo combined for 47 points for the Heat; Herro scored 25 points and Adebayo scored 22. Josh Richardson scored 13 points, Jimmy Butler scored 15, and Duncan Robinson scored 14.
Herro made a comeback after missing eighteen games due to a severe sprained right ankle. Due to a left hip bruise, Adebayo missed the last seven games for Miami.
After trailing by at least 10 points, Minnesota won for the fifth time in the league. Additionally, Miami had lost seven times after holding a double-digit lead, with four of those losses occurring at home.
With 25 games played, Minnesota’s 20-5 start is the best start in team history; the 2001–02 Timberwolves had a 17–8 start. The Minnesota Twins finished below.500 in the majority of their seasons—21 of the previous 34 in the team’s history.
In the first forty-nine minutes of the match, Minnesota had a 20-second advantage, but it was only 4-2. The Wolves led 87-84 after Conley’s 3-pointer with 8:37 left put an end to what was effectively three quarters of Minnesota slogging uphill.
With Herro scoring 17 points, Miami led by as many as 17 points before settling for a 66-54 advantage at the half. It was the second-largest halftime deficit for the Timberwolves and the third-most points Minnesota had given up by halftime this season. Going into the game, Minnesota was the NBA’s best team in terms of field goal % allowed and points allowed per game.
In the third quarter, the defense that was absent in the first half became visible.
The game immediately tightened up as Miami managed just nine points in the first 8:04 of the second half, missing ten of their fourteen field goals during that time. By winning the quarter 23–17, the Wolves had halved the deficit heading into the fourth.
