The Miami HEAT defeated the Minnesota Timberwolves 102-92 Saturday night at AmericanAirlines Arena. Dwyane Wade led the way for the HEAT with 25 points and eight assists.
Impact Performance of the Night: Dwyane Wade was very aggressive on Saturday night and ultimately closed the game for the HEAT. Wade worked well in the post thanks to some crafty moves and also drove to the basket effectively. He and Luol Deng displayed the nice chemistry they’ve built early on this season, as they connected quite often for some easy buckets. Wade scored six of Miami’s final ten points to seal the deal on the Timberwolves. In all, Wade finished with 25 points on 11-of-16 shooting and eight assists.
The Deciding Run: Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh led the charge on a 12-6 run to close out the game after Minnesota got within four with 4:28 to play. The HEAT started to tighten up defensively and made some stops as well. Bosh had another solid game and started to get going from the perimeter in the second half. He finished with 24 points and seven rebounds.
Play of the Game: With less than two minutes to play, Dwyane Wade split the double team from Nikola Pekovic and Andrew Wiggins at the top of the key, drove into the lane and threw down the two-handed stuff to put Miami up 98-90 with 1:55 left.
Earlier in the fourth quarter, Shabazz Napier picked Mo Williams’ pocket on the left corner. Napier brought it up in transition and passed it to James Ennis trailing just behind him to his left. Ennis then threw down the hammer to put the HEAT up 86-72 with 9:57 left in the fourth quarter.
Another great play came late in the first half. Luol Deng stole the ball from Kevin Martin and brought it up court in transition. He then went with a nifty behind-the-back dribble to fake out Martin before passing it to Norris Cole. Cole then finished the layup over Zach LaVine to put the HEAT up 47-27 with 3:03 left in the second quarter.
Efficiency Rating: Offensive Efficiency: 109.1; Defensive Efficiency: 95.7
Trend to Watch: The second Udonis Haslem stepped on the court, he made his presence felt. Immediately after he checked in for the first time this season, Haslem connected on a nice reverse layup in the first quarter. He hit his first three shots and also affected plenty of shots at the rim on the defensive end. In all, Haslem had eight points and six boards. It was great to see the co-captain back on the court doing what he does best.
The Takeaway: It seemed as though the two days in-between games for Miami worked wonders. The HEAT looked refreshed and displayed excellent ball movement like they did in the first few games this season. The HEAT had 18 assists on 23 field goals in the first half, which was a big reason why they were up by 12 entering halftime. Luol Deng and Shawne Williams got some nice looks thanks to the ball movement. Deng finished with 14 points on 6-of-9 shooting, while Williams had seven.
The HEAT also did a good job of forcing turnovers on the young Timberwolves. Miami forced Minnesota to commit 16 turnovers and scored 23 points off them.
Game Highlights: