NBA

Miami Heat at Minnesota Timberwolves

· National Basketball Association
4-5, 3-2 Away
Final
95 - 94

Heat edge Timberwolves 95-94 on Nikola Jovic's layup-and-1 with 7.8 seconds left

Heat outlast Wolves in wild back-and-forth finish

Jovic, who had 15 points and seven rebounds in his first game off the bench this season, drove to the rim with four-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year Rudy Gobert subbed out. Jovic went to the line to give the Heat their first lead since 63-61.

Mike Conley's 3-point attempt at the buzzer was short and finished another harried possession by the Timberwolves, whose three-game winning streak ended. Jaden McDaniels gave them the lead with a putback of Conley's miss with nine seconds left.

Tyler Herro had 26 points for the Heat, who played Jimmy Butler.

Anthony Edwards scored 22 points on 8-for-24 shooting for the Wolves, who trailed by 12 points after a 3-for-15 start from 3-point range. They closed the gap to 52-51 at the break with their only solid stretch on offense.

Takeaways Heat: Overcoming 23 turnovers with 14 steals and nine blocks, all season highs, the Heat made Minnesota's offense just as much of a mess as theirs. Jaime Jaquez Jr. (illness) returned from a three-game absence.

Timberwolves: Twenty turnovers and rough shooting was stemmed a bit by a season-best 16 offensive rebounds, six by Gobert.

Key moment Naz Reid, who went 4 for 7 from deep, hit a 3-pointer late in the third quarter to put the Timberwolves up 64-63 for their first lead since 10-9. That came midway through a 15-0 run.

Key stat Herro set a career best with his 39th consecutive game, including the playoffs, with double-digit points. The streak started on Jan. 8.

Up next Miami plays at Detroit on Tuesday. Minnesota plays at Portland on Tuesday and stays there for a second game on Wednesday.

Regular Season Series

MIA leads series 1-0

Matchup Prediction

Timberwolves: 71.9%
Heat: 28.1%
*According to ESPN's Basketball Power Index

Recent Plays

4th 0.0 End of Game 95 - 94
4th 0.0 End of the 4th Quarter 95 - 94
4th 0.0 Bam Adebayo defensive rebound 95 - 94
4th 2.1 Mike Conley misses 22-foot three point jumper 95 - 94
4th 3.1 Tyler Herro personal foul 95 - 94

Statistics

https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/nba/500/mia.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originMIA https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/nba/500/min.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originMIN
34-77 FG 35-88
44.2 Field Goal % 39.8
11-31 3PT 13-45
35.5 Three Point % 28.9
16-22 FT 11-13
72.7 Free Throw % 84.6
43 Rebounds 47
6 Offensive Rebounds 16
37 Defensive Rebounds 31
18 Assists 22
14 Steals 13
9 Blocks 5
22 Turnovers 19
1 Team Turnovers 1
23 Total Turnovers 20
1 Technical Fouls 0
1 Total Technical Fouls 0
0 Flagrant Fouls 0
20 Points Conceded Off Turnovers 23
26 Fast Break Points 4
44 Points in Paint 42
20 Fouls 20
12 Largest Lead 8

Game Information

Target Center

Location: Minneapolis, MN
Attendance: 18,978 · Capacity:

2024-25 Southeast Standings

TEAM W L PCT GB STRK
Orlando 7 6 .538 - W4
Atlanta 5 7 .417 1.5 W1
Miami 4 6 .400 1.5 L1
Charlotte 4 7 .364 2 L2
Washington 2 8 .200 3.5 L6

2024-25 Northwest Standings

TEAM W L PCT GB STRK
Oklahoma City 10 2 .833 - W2
Denver 7 3 .700 2 W5
Minnesota 6 5 .545 3.5 L2
Portland 4 8 .333 6 W1
Utah 2 8 .200 7 L1
Full Standings

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