Another Moral Victory Leaves Timberwolves at 0-3
December 30, 2011

LeBron James had 34 points and 8 rebounds, but it was his 10th assist of the night, an inbound alley-oop pass to Dwayne Wade for a lay up with 4.6 seconds left, that broke a tie and gave the Miami Heat a 103-101 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves before a sellout crowd of 19,356 at Target Center.

Miami had taken a time out with 6 seconds left after Anthony Tolliver of Minnesota had made one of two free throws to tie the game at 101. Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said he planned to diagram a different he had planned to diagram a different play, but Wade had “seen something” and suggested the break to the basket while taking the pass from James.

The new-look Timberwolves—with coach Rick Adelman, number-two-overall-pick Derrick Williams, and Ricky Rubio—are generating excitement and have lost their first three games of the season by a total of nine points. The schedule gets tougher before it gets easier, with games against Dallas, San Antonio, and Memphis before what could be an easier contest versus Cleveland, but the strong performances early have given fans reason for optimism and has created a buzz that hasn’t been present at Target Center (at least not for the Timberwolves) in years.

Turnovers and poor free-throw shooting did in the Timberwolves and took away their chance for a win over the super trio of James, Wade, and Chris Bosh. Minnesota turned the ball over 9 times in the third quarter, 7 times in the fourth quarter, and 25 times in the game.

The Wolves held leads of 98-94 and 99-96 in the final minutes. After James tied the game on a three-point play, Tolliver went to the line and put the Timberwolves back in front with a free throw; however, he missed the second, which allowed the Heat to go ahead 101-100 when Wade buried a step-back jumper from 22 feet. Toliver then made only one of two again, tying the game with 8.1 seconds left but missing the chance to take the lead.

After Wade converted James’s inbound pass, the Timberwolves called a time out and got the ball into the hands of Wayne Ellington, who missed a 21-foot jump shot as time expired.

Rubio once again drew a roar when he checked into the game in the first quarter and excited the fans with 12 points, 8 rebounds, and 12 assists. His 10th assist was on a feed to Ellington, who sank a 3-pointer to give the Wolves an 85-83 lead and caused the Heat to call a time out with 8:38 left in the game. The teams stayed close, and Minnesota looked to be in a good position to pull off the upset, before the James-Wade tandem did its finishing work.

Kevin Love had 25 points and 12 rebounds for the Timberwolves but scored only 2 points and had no rebounds in the fourth quarter. Love was the only starter to see the floor in the final period and that was for less than half the quarter. The five players off the bench—Rubio, Ellington, Tolliver, Williams, and Anthony Randolph—all scored in double figures in the game.

For Miami, Wade scored 19 points and Bosh 20 to go with 9 rebounds. Rookie Norris Cole played 30 minutes for the heat and had 12 points and 4 assists.

The Heat were hot from the floor, making 56.1 percent of field goals through three quarters and finishing at 49.5 percent. James connected on 16 of his 26 shots. Miami came into the game leading the National Basketball Association with a .502 field-goal percentage.

The win gave Miami a 4-0 record for the second time in team history (the 2004-05 season being the other time).