Heat Overwhelms Minnesota
Friday, March 30, 2007
With a balanced attack that included all five starters hitting double figures in scoring, the Miami Heat defeated the Minnesota Timberwolves, 92-77. Heat forwards James Posey and Udonis Haslem were dominant, scoring 16 and 19 points respectively, with Haslem adding a team-high 14 rebounds. Jason Williams dished out 10 assists to go with 15 points and six rebounds. Shaquille O’Neal, despite a typically horrendous night at the free-throw line (3-for-11) ended up with 15 points on 6-for-10 shooting from the field, and nine rebounds, and Eddie Jones connected for 18 points, including some timely jumpers that re-opened gaps in the scoring after the Timberwolves had started to close in.
Miami coach Pat Riley was pleased with his team’s performance and talked of how “active” the Heat were on defense throughout the game, preventing lay-ups, contesting jumpers, and helping one another on the pick-and-roll. Minnesota made just 2 of 18 three-point attempts and shot just 36.9% percent from the floor. The lone star for the Timberwolves was Kevin Garnett who, after a cold shooting touch in the opening quarter, finished with 22 points. Garnett did have six rebounds in the first quarter and finished with 20 for the game. Although he achieved these numbers while matched up against Haslem, Riley still praised his forward and said his “effort was very good.”
O’Neal had five points in the first quarter and then scored only two more over the next two periods as he was double-teamed. Riley admitted that the team’s spacing on offense may not have been enough to give O’Neal more opportunities to shoot. However, the Miami big man ended up with another eight points in the fourth quarter.
Miami took an early lead, and the Timberwolves never caught up. The Heat led by 17 in the second quarter, but an 11-point run by Minnesota got it down to 6 points. However, three-point baskets by Williams and Jones put Miami back into a double-digit lead.
The Heat’s Alonzo Mourning, who came into the NBA at the same time as O’Neal (being drafted second, behind O’Neal), had four points. His first point of the night made him the Heat’s all-time leading scorer with 9,249 points during his years with the team, passing Glen Rice.