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Anthony Edwards Just Went Nuclear: 45 Points as Timberwolves Beat Heat 131-106
Anthony Edwards went off: 45 points, nine three-pointers and 10 rebounds as the Minnesota Timberwolves beat the Miami Heat 131-106 in Miami on October 21.
Watch our full reaction
Final score and quarter scores
| Team | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q4 | Final |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Minnesota | 34 | 35 | 30 | 32 | 131 |
| Miami | 32 | 27 | 22 | 25 | 106 |
Edwards carried the headline; Minnesota won the supporting battles
Edwards finished 16-for-29 from the floor, 9-for-17 from three and 4-for-5 at the line, adding three assists, two steals and a block. LaMelo Ball contributed 21 points and six assists, Jaden McDaniels had 17 points and eight rebounds, and Rudy Gobert pulled down 15 boards.
The perimeter gap was enormous. Minnesota made 21 threes to Miami’s eight, a 39-point advantage from deep. Edwards alone made more threes than the entire Heat team. Minnesota also won rebounds 52-34, offensive rebounds 17-4 and second-chance points 20-6.
Our take: Miami’s weaknesses showed
Giannis scored a ton, but Miami still struggled. He finished with 35 points on 13-for-19 shooting, yet the Heat went just 8-for-33 from three. Our concern is the shooting around him: his scoring cannot answer every question about this offense.
Our live impression was that Minnesota defended well and played freely, with Edwards going off. The box score supports the shooting and rebounding advantages; the description of how freely Minnesota played is our viewing assessment.
Klay Thompson is worth monitoring
Klay looked halfway decent tonight. He scored 10 points and made three of six threes in 16:15. Miami’s other players combined to shoot 5-for-27 from deep. That is a bright spot alongside the broader shooting concern, although four fouls and limited minutes keep the performance in perspective.
Team statistics
| Statistic | Minnesota | Miami |
|---|---|---|
| FG | 46/98 (46.9%) | 39/81 (48.1%) |
| 3PT | 21/50 (42.0%) | 8/33 (24.2%) |
| FT | 18/29 (62.1%) | 20/26 (76.9%) |
| Rebounds | 52 | 34 |
| Offensive rebounds | 17 | 4 |
| Assists | 20 | 25 |
| Team turnovers | 16 | 19 |
| Steals | 11 | 7 |
| Blocks | 2 | 5 |
| Points in paint | 38 | 54 |
| Second-chance points | 20 | 6 |
| Points off turnovers | 31 | 17 |
| Bench points | 31 | 24 |
Minnesota player stats
| Player | MIN | PTS | REB | AST | FG | 3PT | FT | STL | BLK | TO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jaden McDaniels | 27:55 | 17 | 8 | 1 | 8/11 | 1/3 | 0/0 | 3 | 0 | 2 |
| Jonathan Kuminga | 29:56 | 12 | 1 | 3 | 5/10 | 2/4 | 0/0 | 4 | 1 | 1 |
| Rudy Gobert | 32:46 | 5 | 15 | 1 | 0/2 | 0/0 | 5/8 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Anthony Edwards | 33:24 | 45 | 10 | 3 | 16/29 | 9/17 | 4/5 | 2 | 1 | 4 |
| LaMelo Ball | 27:47 | 21 | 2 | 6 | 7/17 | 5/13 | 2/3 | 2 | 0 | 1 |
| Ayo Dosunmu | 28:59 | 16 | 5 | 3 | 6/13 | 1/3 | 3/3 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Terrence Shannon Jr. | 19:17 | 10 | 1 | 1 | 3/9 | 2/7 | 2/4 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Joan Beringer | 14:15 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 0/2 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Trey Lyles | 13:14 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0/1 | 0/0 | 1/2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Bones Hyland | 3:51 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1/2 | 1/2 | 0/0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jaylen Clark | 3:14 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0/1 | 0/0 | 1/4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Cody Williams | 3:03 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0/1 | 0/1 | 0/0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Isaiah Evans | 2:19 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Miami player stats
| Player | MIN | PTS | REB | AST | FG | 3PT | FT | STL | BLK | TO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Andrew Wiggins | 27:19 | 11 | 2 | 1 | 5/11 | 1/4 | 0/0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Giannis Antetokounmpo | 29:47 | 35 | 6 | 1 | 13/19 | 0/2 | 9/14 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| Bam Adebayo | 30:31 | 15 | 7 | 4 | 6/12 | 1/5 | 2/3 | 3 | 0 | 2 |
| Klay Thompson | 16:15 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 3/6 | 3/6 | 1/1 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Davion Mitchell | 32:50 | 11 | 0 | 10 | 4/8 | 1/2 | 2/2 | 0 | 1 | 5 |
| Bobby Portis Jr. | 24:35 | 7 | 4 | 1 | 3/5 | 1/2 | 0/0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Nikola Jovic | 24:02 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 2/8 | 0/3 | 0/0 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Pelle Larsson | 23:52 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 0/2 | 0/1 | 2/2 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Tim Hardaway Jr. | 17:53 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 1/7 | 1/7 | 0/0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Ryan Conwell | 3:14 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0/1 | 0/1 | 0/0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Simone Fontecchio | 3:14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Myron Gardner | 3:14 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 4/4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Nick Richards | 3:14 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 2/2 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Dru Smith did not play. Shooting columns show makes/attempts. Team turnovers include team turnovers; individual player turnovers total 14 for Minnesota and 18 for Miami.
Sources and PDF
Final score and box score: Plaintext Sports (October 21, 10:21:35 p.m. ET snapshot). The NBA.com game page was checked, but its statistics were not available in the retrieved page; independent final box-score verification remains unavailable.