The NBA regular season continues, with the East and West ushering in a strong dialogue, and the Heat sitting at home to welcome the Timberwolves.
This season, the Timberwolves finally got out of trouble and became one of the dark horses of the West, ranking seventh in the West with a record of 38 wins and 30 losses before the game, occupying the top half of the playoffs and very promising to reach the playoffs.
On the other hand, the Heat have become the top teams in the West this season, successively surpassing the Nets, Bucks, Bulls and other teams, sitting in the first position in the East, and recently Lowry has returned from injury and led the team to beat strong teams such as Philadelphia and the Cavaliers, and the team is excellent.
As soon as the game began, Towns continued his fiery performance, flying three points in the middle and outer lines to help the Timberwolves rebound and take the lead first.
Towns then played back-to-back with Edwards to help the Timberwolves get off to a perfect 9-0 start, and the Heat, who played at home, were at a disadvantage.
Although the Heat's form has since picked up, the Timberwolves feel too hot, and the point difference was quickly pulled to double digits, but fortunately, the Heat threatened at the end of the section, and the point difference was narrowed to 5 points.
In the second quarter, with the appearance of substitute Hiro, the Heat gradually opened up the situation on the offensive end, coupled with the Timberwolves' obvious decline in hand, the point difference was constantly narrowed by the Heat.
With seven minutes left in the second quarter, the Heat finally caught up with Stroth's three-pointer and took the first lead of the game with Hiro's free throw.
Since then, the Heat have continued to work hard, and the multi-point blossom has pulled the point difference to double digits, and although the Timberwolves have since warmed up, the Heat have clearly entered the state, and under the leadership of Hiro, they have taken a 12-point lead in the half.
The Heat, who switched back to the main force, fell into a dud, and the Timberwolves continued their state in the second half of the second quarter, constantly narrowing the point gap.
Especially after the Timberwolves bench players came on, the overall momentum and momentum were significantly stronger, completely suppressing the Heat team playing at home.
The point difference was also constantly eroded by the Timberwolves, and with the last 21 seconds left in the third quarter, the Timberwolves successfully tied the score and took a three-point lead with the final whistle three points.
Entering the final quarter of the scramble, the Heat quickly completed the rebound with the projection of Strus and Big Morris, and regained the advantage.
Since then, the two teams have fallen into a tug-of-war, the score has been drawn many times, the advantage has changed hands frequently, and the score of 97 draws has lasted for two minutes.
Until the critical moment, Edwards stepped up, a single person with a sudden shot to help the team open the point difference, the Heat have no one to stand up to solve the problem, the game is over, the Timberwolves beat the Heat in the East 113-104 upset.
Throughout the game, the Heat, as the number one in the East, showed the advantages of many scoring points and excellent lineup depth, but also exposed the problem of insufficient star ceiling.
In Butler's absence, four members of the team scored in double figures, namely Hiro 30 points, 7 boards and 2 assists, Strus 19 points, 7 boards and 2 assists, Lowry 14 points, 7 boards and 7 assists, and Adebayo 19 points, 12 boards, 4 assists and 3 assists.
But at critical moments, the team lacks a stable endpoint, which is also the Heat's deadliest shortcoming, and this shortcoming often determines how far the playoffs can go.
On the Timberwolves side, on the other hand, although Towns was a little weak in the glue moment as usual, Edwards was tough enough to kill the game with his personal performance.
This also makes the Lakers have to prepare in advance, because according to the current ranking, the Timberwolves and the Clippers will meet in the top half of the playoffs, and the Lakers in the bottom half.
If George and Leonard return in the playoffs, the Timberwolves will most likely lose the first playoff game in the first half, and the Lakers will need to win the first playoff game in the second half of the playoffs and then play against the Timberwolves, which are obviously difficult to deal with.