Reserve Naz Reid scored 11 of his 25 points in the fourth quarter as the Minnesota Timberwolves pulled away down the stretch and beat the short-handed Miami Heat 106-90 on Saturday night.
Minnesota won its eighth straight home opener by dominating the final 16-plus minutes. Tyler Herro’s 3-pointer gave Miami a 70-68 lead with 4:47 remaining in the third period, but the Timberwolves took the lead for good at 72-70 when Kyle Anderson sank a floater with 3:31 remaining.
Anderson’s hoop was part of a 12-3 run that helped the Wolves take an 80-73 lead into the fourth. Miami was within 82-79 on two free throws with 9:34 but Reid took over to help Minnesota surge ahead.
After converting a three-point play, Reid hit two 3s for a 91-79 lead with 6:52 remaining. Rudy Gobert followed with a layup and a dunk before Mike Conley’s 3 made it 98-80 with 5:19 left.
Reid made 10 of 14 shots from the floor and tied a career high by hitting four 3s as Minnesota’s bench contributed 42 points. Reid’s output was the most points by a Minnesota reserve in a home opener and the forward finished five points shy of his career high.
Anthony Edwards added 19 points and seven assists as the Wolves shot 51.2 percent. Gobert added 14 and 14 rebounds, and Conley contributed 14 and five assists. Anderson finished with 12 points and Karl-Anthony Towns totaled 12 and 10 boards.
Playing the second night of a back-to-back following an eight-point loss in Boston on Friday, the Heat rested Jimmy Butler, the former Minnesota player who heard “Where is Jimmy” chants from the crowd in the final minutes. Caleb Martin (knee) and Kevin Love (shoulder) also sat out.
Miami shot 40.2 percent from the floor, including 12-for-38 from the 3-point line.
Herro led the Heat with 22 points on 8-of-23 shooting and Bam Adebayo added 19. The other three Miami starters — Nikola Jokic, rookie Jaime Jaquez Jr. and Kyle Lowry — were held to a combined 18 points.
–Field Level Media
