Minnesota ruins Giannis debut

Ball shot off-balance and cockeyed and still made shots. The Timberwolves put up 69 points on the Heat in the first half. The game was close until late in the second quarter. Jonathan Kuminga hit a three to put the Wolves up by six. Ayo Dosunmu scored a three-point play then Anthony Edwards dunked the ball.

Second Half

The Wolves began to pull away at the start of the third quarter. They went up 85-72 and were hitting big shots. The Heat’s offense stagnated between missing shots and giving the ball to Giannis and letting him go. Bam Adebayo had a beautiful sequence towards the end of the third quarter.

He scored seven points in a row. Adebayo took the ball at the top of the key and was driven to score. Unfortunately, those seven points only got the Heat back to 90-79. Nothing could be done to stem the productivity of Anthony Edwards. Edwards scored 40 points and stayed on the “National radar” of fans.

Heat “learned tonight”

Minnesota outrebounded the Heat by 17. The Heat historically have never won when outrebounded. The Wolves shot 42% from three-point range to complete the defeat. The Wolves bench outscored Miami’s 27-16. They contained Giannis and got outscored in the paint by the Heat, but their shooting was “lights out.” As per Andy Marso from Last Word on Sports, they didn’t meet all three points to success.

The Heat play Detroit on Friday and fly to Charlotte for the next game. The offense certainly has its work cut out for them, but they had a hell of a test tonight against the Western Conference finalists. Giannis is “warming up” to the Miami fans and 35 points was huge, plus touring local courts for pickup games.