The Miami Heat end their four-game home-stand with a brutal loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves, 112-108. In the stay at the Kaseya Center, it was an even 2-2.
It was another game where the Heat built up a lead early in the game, but couldn't sustain it throughout the rest of the contest. Monday night also marked the return of stars Bam Adebayo and Tyler Herro who made a huge difference to start the game, but ultimately it wasn't enough to stop Anthony Edwards who tallied up 32 points.
For the Heat, the aforementioned Herro led the team in his come back with 25 points and the also returning Adebayo was second on the team with 22 points. Jimmy Butler would only have 15 points.
Here are three takeaways from the Heat's loss to the Timberwolves:
A commanding first half
One can't overstate how well the Heat opened against the Timberwolves in the first quarter as the home team was exceptional on both sides of the ball. Miami put up a 33-point quarter compared to Minnesota's 22 where the top two scoring options in Anthony Edwards and Karl-Anthony Towns each had four points.
On the Heat's side, they saw the early impact of the returning Herro and Adebayo as they were one and two in scoring with 10 and 7 points each. While the Timberwolves are known for their eye-opening defense, it was Miami that was flustering the Timberwolves as they committed seven first quarter turnovers.
The Heat kept up the offense in the second quarter shooting 66.7 percent from the field and 50 percent from deep. Herro once again contributed here with seven points, but others like rookie Jaime Jaquez Jr. and Duncan Robinson were key in giving Miami a spark in the period.
However, the second quarter was the time where the Timberwolves woke up and scored 32 points in the quarter led by Edwards who found a rhythm and scored 11 and Towns also had eight in the quarter as both stars rallied. But still, the Heat entered halftime with a 12-point lead.
A dwindling second half
The third quarter was one to forget for the Heat as they scored only 17 points, which is down from the 30 mark they reached in the past two quarters. Miami would shoot a measly 28.6 percent from deep and 36.8 percent from the field.
It wasn't a great scoring period for Minnesota either as they had 21, but was still enough to bring down Miami's lead to just six. The Timberwolves shot 42.9 percent from the field and 37.5 percent from deep.
When it came to the fourth quarter, Minnesota came out hot to a 10-1 start which gave them the lead off of a Mike Conley three. Once again, the Heat loses a lead in the fourth quarter and have to rely on themselves to clean up their mess.
It must be deja vu. Another game where the Heat build up a big lead, this time by 17, and not just lose the lead, but lose the game as well. The size of Minnesota is what ended up being the catalyst as even though the statistics weren't amazing for Towns and Gobert, they made a huge impact defensively on the glass. Edwards
It would come down to a three-point game with 25.6 seconds left. Just last contest, the game-winner went to Butler for the win. This time, his name was called to tie it up. He got the ball in-bounds and forced up a deep ball with plenty of time on the clock. It was a questionable shot.
The returns of Adebayo, Herro and the schedule ahead
Even though the Heat leave the Kaseya Center with the loss, it was a positive sign to see Herro and Adebayo back. It was as if they never left as the two were one and two in scoring on the team.
It's going to be a sign of things to come for the Heat as even though they shined in their return, the chemistry and rhythm are not at 100 percent yet since both have missed a significant amount of time with nagging injuries. It's a good bet that the two and the rest of the Heat team will figure it out.
For the schedule ahead, there are five games left before the New Year. Their next game will be on the road against the Orlando Magic on Wednesday before they come back home for two games against the Atlanta Hawks on Friday and the Philadelphia 76ers on Christmas Day. Miami then finishes with two more games on the road against the Golden State Warriors and Utah Jazz to close out 2023.
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