Edwards Drops 45 as Timberwolves Spoil Giannis' Heat Debut

MIAMI — Anthony Edwards turned Giannis Antetokounmpo's Miami Heat debut into a personal showcase on Wednesday night, pouring in 45 points on nine 3-pointers as the Minnesota Timberwolves routed the Heat 131-106 in the season opener at Kaseya Center.

Edwards shot 16 of 29 from the floor and added 10 rebounds, three assists and two steals before checking out with 3:51 remaining and Minnesota ahead by 28. His 45 points were the most by a Timberwolves player in a season opener and the 125th 30-point game of his career. The historic footnote: he became just the third player in NBA history to record multiple 40-point games in season openers, joining Wilt Chamberlain and Michael Jordan.

Chamberlain did it four consecutive years from 1959 through 1962; Jordan did it in 1986, 1989 and 1995. Edwards had dropped 41 in last season's opener at Portland. His nine 3-pointers were also one more than the entire Heat team managed all night.

Minnesota came out firing, opening 11-for-14 from the floor and leading 27-19 after eight minutes. Miami briefly stole the momentum in the second quarter — Bobby Portis, one of the players acquired alongside Antetokounmpo, hit a 3-pointer that put the Heat ahead 50-49 — but the Timberwolves seized the final five minutes of the half. Terrence Shannon Jr. buried consecutive corner threes, Edwards recorded a steal and an easy dunk, and LaMelo Ball scored on a drive and added two free throws to send Minnesota into the locker room up 69-59.

The run carried into the third quarter. Edwards and Ball each hit a 3-pointer in the opening two and a half minutes as a 23-7 burst stretching back to the second quarter pushed the lead to 78-61. Later, a 45-23 run — with Edwards scoring 18 of those points while Miami missed 11 of 12 from deep — broke the game open for good. The largest lead reached 30.

The box score told the story of two teams shooting from different planets. Minnesota went 21 of 50 from 3-point range (42 percent) to Miami's 8 of 33 (24.2 percent), outscoring the Heat 63-24 from beyond the arc. The Timberwolves also won the glass 52-34 and converted 19 Heat turnovers into 31 points.

Ball, making his Timberwolves debut, looked every bit the part of Edwards' new running mate: 21 points, five 3-pointers, six assists and two steals. The two guards — members of the same 2020 draft class — traded one-legged fadeaway threes and kept Miami's defense stretched all night. Jaden McDaniels added 17 points, Ayo Dosunmu had 16, Jonathan Kuminga chipped in 12 with four steals in his own Minnesota debut, and Rudy Gobert grabbed 15 rebounds.

Antetokounmpo, for his part, did nearly everything a debut could ask of him in the first half. His first basket came just 13 seconds into the game, a 16-foot pull-up jumper he took after the Timberwolves dared him to shoot — the first of Miami's first eight points of the night, all scored by the new arrival. He had 14 in the opening quarter and 21 on 8-of-10 shooting by halftime, drawing MVP chants from the Kaseya Center crowd.

He finished with 35 points on 13-of-19 shooting and six rebounds — matching his second-best scoring total in a season opener — but fouled out late in the fourth with the game long decided. The rough edges showed too: just one assist as his kick-outs found teammates who missed their catch-and-shoot looks, an airballed free throw, and a flagrant foul for catching Shannon Jr. with an elbow on a drive.

Miami acquired Antetokounmpo in an offseason blockbuster with the Milwaukee Bucks after 13 seasons there, sending Tyler Herro, Kel'el Ware, Jaime Jaquez Jr., Kasparas Jakučionis and a 2026 first-round pick the other way, with Portis returning alongside him. Klay Thompson, another offseason addition, scored 10 points in his Heat debut. Coach Erik Spoelstra empowered Antetokounmpo to run the offense and attack at will, but the spacing issues around him were glaring — Miami managed just 24 percent from deep and never recovered once Minnesota's runs began.

Bam Adebayo scored 15 points, and Andrew Wiggins and Davion Mitchell added 11 apiece, with Mitchell dishing out 10 assists. The loss was Miami's third consecutive season-opening defeat — only the third time in franchise history the Heat have dropped three straight openers. Minnesota, meanwhile, won for the sixth time in its last eight season openers.

The Bucks fared no better without their former superstar, losing their opener 128-116 to the Washington Wizards. For one night, at least, both teams involved in the summer's biggest trade were reminded exactly what they gave up — and what Minnesota's new-look backcourt might be about to become.