The Minnesota Timberwolves didn’t waste any time putting their new identity on display.
On opening night, they rolled through the Miami Heat on South Beach, and the game laid bare the two biggest themes surrounding this reworked roster: the backcourt can be devastating, and the frontcourt can still get bullied by bigger bodies.
The first part looked every bit as dangerous as advertised. LaMelo Ball ran the offense with complete command, taking pressure off Anthony Edwards and helping unlock the Wolves’ perimeter game.
Edwards answered with 45 points, coming just five shy of the opening-night record Kyrie Irving set in a loss to the Timberwolves in 2019. He also buried nine threes, while Ball knocked down five of his own.
That kind of shot-making gives Minnesota a weapon few teams can match.
Edwards has already built a reputation as one of the league’s elite shooters, including leading the NBA in made threes two seasons ago. Put him next to Ball, another player who thrives on difficult shots, and the Wolves suddenly have a backcourt that can bend a defense in a hurry. That stretch helped create room for Jaden McDaniels, who was matched up with 36-year-old Klay Thompson and delivered 17 points on 8-11 shooting.
Miami wasn’t some soft target, either. The Heat brought a serious defensive front with Giannis Antetokounmpo and Bam Adebayo protecting the paint, plus Davion Mitchell as one of the NBA’s top guard defenders.
None of it slowed Minnesota down. The Wolves scored 131 points and looked comfortable doing it.
But the other side of the roster question showed up fast, too.
With Julius Randle and Naz Reid gone and Jonathan Kuminga in the starting lineup, Minnesota is noticeably smaller in the frontcourt than it has been at any point since the Rudy Gobert trade four years ago. That size issue met a brutal test against Antetokounmpo, who kept driving through the defense possession after possession.
Antetokounmpo finished with 35 points on 11-19 shooting and got to the line 14 times, making nine free throws. The Wolves tried Kuminga on him to start, then turned to Trey Lyles off the bench, but neither had much success. Still, Antetokounmpo is one of the best players in the history of the sport, and even great defenses can have nights like this.
Minnesota did settle in after halftime, holding him to 14 points in the second half after he had 21 before the break. The Wolves also managed to keep Adebayo in check. He finished with 15 points, and while he did get by Joan Beringer a few times at the rim, he didn’t do much damage when Gobert was the defender in front of him.
From Miami’s side, the Antetokounmpo-Adebayo pairing never looked smooth. From Minnesota’s side, the Edwards-Ball fit looked electric.
That’s the real takeaway from opening night: the Wolves had far more answers for the Heat than the Heat had for them. If that balance holds, Minnesota is going to spend the season looking like a serious problem.
And if the Wolves can eventually find a defender who can handle bigger scorers one-on-one and cover up that remaining weakness, the ceiling gets even higher. Even in a conference with the Oklahoma City Thunder and San Antonio Spurs, that starts to sound a lot like a championship-caliber team.
In Other News...
Shaq Just Put Minnesotas LaMelo Ball Situation Under A Real Spotlight
LaMelo Balls recent turn on Inside the NBA offered a window into how he views his first season with the Timberwolves, and it was pretty simple: he is not walking around with a rigid set of team goals. Ball said he prefers to focus on bringing his best effort, a measured answer that fits a player still settling into a new situation while also talking about life off the court, from changing his sons diapers to getting a feel for playing alongside Anthony Edwards.
Shaquille ONeal, though, clearly saw it differently and used the segment to put Minnesotas bigger-picture pressure on display. ONeal pushed back on Balls approach and framed the move to Minnesota as the kind of addition that should raise the teams ambitions in a major way, which is exactly why the exchange landed as more than just a quick TV moment. It also underscored how much attention Balls fit with Edwards is already drawing, even before the season really gets rolling. [Read more 🡒]
Timberwolves Send An Early Message Against Miamis New-Look Team
Minnesotas season opener offered an early look at how much the Timberwolves can still dictate terms against a reworked Miami roster. Giannis Antetokounmpo made his Miami debut with 35 points, the most ever by a player in a debut for the Heat, but the Wolves still came away with the win and gave the new-look group plenty to sort through after one night.
For Miami, the issues went beyond one stars scoring burst. The Heat had trouble generating help around him, and the glass was an issue too, which made it hard for them to get the kind of open-floor opportunities they want. Minnesota, meanwhile, left with a result that felt bigger than a single October game, especially with Anthony Edwards continuing to be a problem for Miami whenever these teams line up. [Read more 🡒]
Anthony Edwards Turned Heat Bench Chatter Into A Superstar Reminder
Bench chatter from the Heat didnt go unnoticed in Minnesotas win, and it ended up giving Anthony Edwards an easy little edge to lean on. The Timberwolves star heard the talk, kept his focus and put together one of those nights that reminds everyone why he changes a game so quickly when he gets rolling from deep.
Afterward, the exchange drew a predictable response from Miami coach Erik Spoelstra, who suggested Gardner ought to be a little more careful with that kind of talk when he is not on the floor. The Heat like the edge Gardner brings and understand the fire behind it, but there is a fine line between competitive and combustible, especially when the target is a scorer like Edwards. [Read more 🡒]