(Photo Credit: Joe Murphy)
The Miami HEAT knocked off the Minnesota Timberwolves 103-92 Tuesday night at AmericanAirlines Arena. The HEAT fell behind early, but used an explosion from behind the arc to pull away in the fourth quarter.
Impact Performance of the Night: The HEAT bench gets the nod tonight. Shane Battier, Norris Cole, Joel Anthony and Ray Allen sparked the HEAT’s big second half run that put the game away for the HEAT. The four players combined for 27 points and played tight defense.
The Deciding Run: The first five minutes of the fourth quarter were huge for the HEAT. The HEAT entered the quarter with an eight-point advantage. In those five minutes the HEAT scored 17 points, hit four threes and extended the lead to 19 points. The game was never really in doubt again.
Play(s) of the Game: Dwyane Wade’s play in the post needs to be mentioned somewhere, we we’ll give him the “play(s)” of the game. Wade put on an absolute clinic on the block. He scored 18 first-half points, and it felt as though all of them came from a touch in the post. Wade’s slick moves led to made baskets and drawn fouls. That’s tough to deal with for opponent.
Efficiency Rating: Offensive Efficiency: 115.6; Defensive Efficiency: 96.8
Trend to Watch: The defense was flying around tonight. It held the Timberwolves to a below average offensive output and forced 19 turnovers. The HEAT’s rotations are much quicker than they were a month ago. The progress is clear.
The Takeaway: The Timberwolves present a unique challenge. Their frontline is very big and full of strong rebounders. While they were able to outrebound the HEAT, the HEAT were able to force turnovers, block shots and find a way to win. There are things that still need to be worked on, but the positives far outweigh the negatives tonight.
Notes: LeBron James scored 22 points, dished out 11 assists, grabbed seven rebounds and blocked four shots. He controlled the tempo in the second half. Dwyane Wade finished with 24 points in 27 minutes. Chris Bosh scored 15 points. Ricky Rubio sat out the contest. Josh Harrellson and Terrel Harris were inactive.
