On December 19, Beijing time, the NBA regular season continued, and the Timberwolves challenged the Heat away. As the biggest dark horse born this season, the Timberwolves previously ranked first in the West with a record of 19 wins and 5 losses, the team's defensive efficiency ranked first in the league, and the cliff lead, while Edwards and Towns were the two champions on the offensive end to ensure the team's lower limit, and the overall roster framework was perfect. In the last game against the Pacers, the duo exploded at the same time, with Edwards scoring 37 points and Towns chipped in 40 points, and they took the best Pacers in the league to their rhythm and then easily crushed their opponents. In addition, so far this season, the Timberwolves have won by at least 10 points or more on 11 occasions, second in the league behind the 76ers.
The Heat, as the Eastern Conference champions last season, as in the past few years, played hard in the regular season, not that they didn't want to win, but there was really no one available. The team's top two scorers per game, Herro (22.9 points per game), are out for a long time with an ankle injury, Bam Adebayo (22.3 points per game) has a hip injury, and with Vincent and Strus leaving the team in the offseason, the team is too short of scoring points on the offensive end. Previously, the Heat had a 15-11 record and ranked fifth in the East. However, in the battle with the Timberwolves, the Heat ushered in good news, Herro and Adebayo returned at the same time! The starting lineup of the Heat is: Herro + Koreb Martin + Butler + Love + Adebayo; the Timberwolves are still their strongest starters: Conley + Edwards + McDaniels + Towns + Gobert.
In the opening game, Adebayo received a dunk in the air, Edwards responded with a single, Herro scored with consecutive throws, and Gobert and McDaniels also took turns eating cakes and dunking. The two teams were stuck in half a quarter, the Heat took the lead, Adebayo picked up the basket to complete 2+1, Butler shot, Herro trained Gobert to throw and then hit, plus Lefou's three-point shot, the Heat played a 12-0 climax to open the difference!
Back in the second quarter, Troy Brown hit a three-point shot to stop the bleeding, Li Kaier made a kill, the Heat's Harkes scored consecutive singles, Dunroe continued to hit two three-pointers, and the Heat once opened a 17-point difference! The Timberwolves are not very accustomed to the Heat's high-pressure play, the effect of breaking the bag is not good, and there are too many mistakes! At the critical moment, Towns made a layup 2+1 to stop the bleeding. After that, McDaniels continued to fly to the basket, Adebayo and Dunroe scored consecutive singles, Richardson made a three-point foul, and the difference was opened again! In the second half, Edwards turned on the singles mode, Herro and Towns hit three-pointers, Edwards continued to make three-pointers, and Lee Kyle made offensive fouls, and at halftime, the Timberwolves 54-66 Heat. Edwards 15 points, Towns 12, Herro 17 and Butler 12.
At the start of the second half, Gobert made a kill, Conley chased a three-pointer, and Adebayo smashed Gobert with a tomahawk, but Gobert quickly responded with a dunk. In the middle of the period, Love and Herro blossomed inside and out, and the Heat once again opened up the point advantage, and at the critical moment, Edwards hit a three-point shot against Butler, and then accelerated to sprint 1 dozen and 3 layups and then hit it! In the second half, Reed and Towns also made consecutive layups, Butler responded singlely, Alexander Walker continued to make a three-pointer, and at the end of the quarter, Love also hit a three-pointer, and Edwards scored a whistle jumper! After the third quarter, the Timberwolves trailed the Heat 77-83.
In the fourth quarter, Walker and Reed blossomed inside and out, and the Timberwolves quickly erased the point difference. After that, Conley and Reed rained three-pointers, and the Heat bench did feel bad. After Adebayo stopped the bleeding with a jumper, Conley hit another three-pointer. At the decisive moment, Dunroe hit a three-point tie score, Edwards squeezed Butler off twice in a row, after Herro hit both free throws, Edwards scored a difficult step-back jumper, Richardson continued to hit three points, Towns singled Butler, Gobert dunked, and at the last moment, Alexander Walker made free throws to kill the suspense of the game!
Heat statistics, Butler 15 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists, Adebayo 22 points, 6 rebounds and 6 assists, Herro 25 points, Richardson 13 points and 4 rebounds, Dunroe 14 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists, Love 9 points, 10 rebounds and 4 assists. Timberwolves statistics, Edwards 32 points, 8 rebounds and 5 assists, Conley 12 points and 6 assists, Towns 18 points and 8 rebounds, McDaniels 10 points and 5 rebounds, Reed 15 points and 4 rebounds, Lee Kyle 5 points and 5 assists. Edwards is really a bit of a shadow of Butler, and he has a big heart at critical moments! After this game, the Timberwolves are 20-5 and their record is back to the first in the league!