Julius Randle had a near triple-double with 13 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists as the visiting Minnesota Timberwolves won their fourth straight game, defeating the Miami Heat 106-104 on Friday night.
Miami had a chance to win late. Duncan Robinson made a 3-pointer with 3.2 seconds left. Minnesota then turned the ball over on what appeared to be a bad call.
However, Minnesota didn’t have a timeout left to challenge the ball.
Miami, trailing 106-104, in-bounded the ball with 1.9 seconds left. Bam Adebayo went for the win but his 3-pointer was way off as time expired.
Timberwolves star Anthony Edwards, who averages 27.5 points, was held to 13 points on 4-or-10 shooting. But he also had 13 rebounds and six assists.
Adebayo led Miami with a game-high 29 points and 13 rebounds. Tyler Herro, who missed Miami’s previous game due to an illness, had 22 points and seven assists. Davion Mitchell added a game-high 10 assists.
Miami, which opened a five-game homestand, gave rookie Pelle Larsson just his second start of the season and his first since Jan. 24. He finished with five points in 18 minutes.
The Heat were without three injured starters: Nikola Jovic (broken hand); Andrew Wiggins (right ankle); and Kel’el Ware (left knee). Alec Burks (back pain) also sat out the game.
However, Jaime Jaquez Jr. (right ankle) returned and scored four points off the bench.
For Minnesota, center Rudy Gobert (back) missed his 10th straight game but point guard Mike Conley returned after he was held out of Minnesota’s previous game for rest reasons. He had 15 points.
Early on, there were six tie scores and three lead changes in a first quarter that ended with Minnesota on top, 33-25.
Adebayo scored nine points in the second quarter as Miami tied Minnesota, 52-52 at halftime.
Minnesota surged ahead in the third before Miami went on an 18-4 run. At the end of the quarter, the score was tied 80-80. Edwards had just six points through three quarters.
Edwards finally heated up a bit with two 3-pointers in the fourth, helping Minnesota take a 100-95 lead as Miami called timeout with 3:55 left.
The Timberwolves led the rest of the way, finishing the game with 18-for-45 shooting on 3-pointers.
