Monday night was the Minnesota Timberwolves first matchup versus the Miami Heat this season and they were the last team the Wolves wanted to see. The Heat continued their current league-high 11-game winning streak in a 115-113 win over the Wolves at the Target Center. Center Karl-Anthony Towns led all players with 35 points, eight rebounds, and two steals.
Despite the close finish, the game was a wire-to-wire win for Miami, who entered halftime with a 71-57 lead. Wolves small forward Andrew Wiggins contributed to the deficit with just six points in the first half. But, he redeemed himself with 21 points in the second half to end the game with 27 points, four rebounds, and two steals.
The loss can be attributed to the Wolves inability to adapt to the circumstances of the game and the lack of ball sharing under the basket. Although Minnesota gave their best effort at the end of the game, Miami still shot over 50 percent on field goals and three point attempts. Power forward Gorgui Dieng, Towns, and Wiggins had no assists in the matchup.
Thibs lamented guys scoring on Wolves same way over and over.
“We’re not reacting to what’s going on in the game, and that’s problematic.”
— Jace frederick (@JaceFrederick) February 7, 2017
Heat combo guard Goran Dragic led his team with 33 points, two rebounds, and nine assists. He shot over 75 percent on field goals and three-pointers in the contest.
Dragic: "The rim looks huge you know. It’s just, first four three pointers was really easy, there was no contest." Teammates found him
— Jon Krawczynski (@JonKrawczynski) February 7, 2017
While the Heat are on an 11-game winning streak, the Wolves are headed in the opposite direction. Minnesota hopes to break a four-game losing streak against the Toronto Raptors on Wednesday night at home.
The heat is on in Minnesota.
Brad Omland is a writer and editor for Howlin’ T-Wolf. Follow him on Twitter: @bradradio.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
