Timberwolves scrounge up a victory over Miami, running their winning streak to four

Chris Hine, The Minnesota Star Tribune on Mar 7, 2025

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MIAMI – The Heat are a franchise in transition in the wake of the Jimmy Butler trade to Golden State. But for the rest of this season, they are still a team that, under coach Erik Spoelstra, is going to play disciplined, tough basketball.

They gave a road-weary Wolves team (seventh road game out of their past nine) all they could handle Friday, but the Wolves gutted out a 106-104 win, their fourth straight.

They made it interesting at the end as turnovers and missed free throws gave the Heat a chance to win it with 1.9 seconds to play, but Bam Adebayo missed a three-pointer as time expired.

The Wolves got threes in the fourth from Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Anthony Edwards and Naz Reid to turn a three-point fourth-quarter deficit into a 100-95 lead with 3 minutes, 55 seconds to play. The Wolves clung to a three-point lead before Jaden McDaniels grabbed a loose ball near the hoop and put it in for a 104-99 lead with 1:05 to play.

The Wolves benefited from missed threes by Tyler Herro and Duncan Robinson down the stretch. Edwards got the rebound for the Wolves on three straight possessions and finished with a season-high 13. He scored 13 points, his second-lowest output of the season.

The Wolves had seven players score between 12 and 15 points, with Naz Reid, Mike Conley and Donte DiVincenzo all scoring 15. Adebayo had 29 for the Heat.

Conley starts again

With Conley back after missing Wednesday’s win in Charlotte for rest, he was in the starting lineup and DiVincenzo again came off the bench. The Wolves opened a 20-15 lead before the first timeout of the game from Miami nearly six minutes into the game. Edwards, who had Davion Mitchell guarding him, didn’t take his first shot of the night until the 6:16 mark. Julius Randle opened the night 3-for-5 as he looked to find his touch early. Conley also scored five early points.

DiVincenzo subbed in for Conley after the timeout, and Alexander-Walker and Terrence Shannon Jr. followed soon after. All three hit threes as the Wolves led 33-25 after one quarter. The Wolves shot 55% and had just one turnover while holding the Heat to just 35% shooting in the first.

Edwards keeps going to start second

Typically, Edwards rests to start the second quarter, but he was on the floor to start quarter two. Coach Chris Finch successfully challenged an offensive foul on Edwards on the first possession of the quarter and got it reversed to an offensive foul on Adebayo. Edwards exited at the 9:33 mark.

The Wolves were cold from three-point range in the second (1-for-10 to start) and that allowed Miami to hang around despite good effort from the Wolves defense. The Heat played a zone defense most of the quarter and while the Wolves got good looks, but they couldn’t convert, shooting 35% for the quarter. This allowed Miami to storm back from an 11-point deficit and take a 49-48 lead toward the end of the quarter behind 15 in the first half from Adebayo. The teams were tied 52-52 headed into the half.

Edwards missing at start of third

The Wolves began the second half without Edwards, who didn’t come to the bench until a few minutes into the third quarter. The unit that played without him gave the Wolves the lead back, as Conley scored seven points in a 16-9 start to the quarter for the Wolves before Edwards checked in with 7:01 to play.

The Heat went on an 8-0 run in 22 seconds in the third quarter as the Wolves turned it over twice in the face of Miami’s backcourt pressure. The Wolves then again struggled with the Heat zone, leading to bad shots, turnovers and easy baskets at the other end in a 10-0 run by Miami, which took an 80-77 lead. The score was again tied, 80-80, entering the fourth. Edwards didn’t score in the third and had just six points through three quarters.

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