The Minnesota Timberwolves came to Miami for a win the day after Christmas. They came up short on the last play of the game as this was one of those games where we didn’t know what to expect. The Miami Heat played without Bam Adebayo & Jimmy Butler who were out tonight. With Bam out the Timberwolves weren’t able to establish much of a presence on the inside with Rudy Gobert. This game showed a lot of growth in maturity in Anthony Edwards game. It was one of those games when he was able to hit shot after shot for Minnesota. Edwards has been the bright spot for this Timberwolves team that has been trying to figure it out. Edwards was making it tough on anyone that was guarding him in a Heat jersey whether it was Martin, Strus, or Lowry. Anthony Edwards tried to will the Timberwolves to a victory but they came up short. Anthony Edwards finished with 29 points, 7 assists, and 6 rebounds.

One player that Coach Finch will need to get more minutes even when Karl-Anthony Towns comes back is Naz Reid. This man Naz Reid has been on a scoring frenzy as of late because his ability to put the ball on the floor and shoot from outside has him looking unstoppable. Reid has been able to be a mismatch for almost every matchup that he sees and he’s so quick with his first step it leaves his defenders in the dust. Tonight Naz Reid was able to add 21 points, 2 assists, and 11 rebounds. The lack of bigs in the paint tonight made it too easy for Naz Reid to get busy inside and out. The Timberwolves lost but it wasn’t because of Edwards or Reid as both were able to put in the work. Rudy Gobert and D’Angelo Russell didn’t get their usual points that were expected but that also goes with the game flow and who’s the hot hand at the time.

The Miami Heat were dominating in the paint tonight as they were able to score 64 points in there. The Miami Heat also got 45 points from the bench tonight as well. Tonight it was Max Strus who was able to score 19 points in only 24 minutes of play that stood out. Strus hit some big shots in the first half and that led to the second half. Tyler Herro made some big shots including his step back in the late seconds of the 4th. This Miami Heat team is battle tested and they were able to make the best of the situation in front of them. The Heat have the next-man-up mentality and they were able to grind out the win.

The Timberwolves will be heading to New Orleans to play against the Pelicans as they try to snap this 3 game-losing streak.

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