{{pageModel.leagueAbbr}} {{pageModel.subtitle}} | Las Vegas Review-Journal
National Basketball Association
Minnesota 113, Miami 104
When: 6:00 PM ET, Sunday, December 30, 2018
Where: American Airlines Arena, Miami, Florida
Officials: #29 Mark Lindsay, #44 Brett Nansel, #4 Sean Wright
Attendance: 19600

Karl-Anthony Towns produced 34 points, 18 rebounds, seven assists and a career-high-tying six blocks to lead the Minnesota Timberwolves past the host Miami Heat 113-104 on Sunday night.

Towns, who made 12-of-24 shots from the floor, including 3-of-6 on three-pointers, fouled out with 34 seconds left. It was his fourth foul-out of the season, but he had already done enough to lead Minnesota to victory.

Minnesota also scored 24 points off of 20 Miami turnovers.

The Heat, looking to go over .500 for the first time since their fifth game of the season, fell to 17-18. Even so, Miami is 6-2 in its past eight games.

Minnesota, which started its season with eight straight road losses, has won three straight games away from home. In fact, over its past 10 road games, Minnesota is 5-5.

Dwyane Wade led Miami with 21 points off the bench, including seven in the fourth quarter. Also for Miami, Josh Richardson added 17 points, and Hassan Whiteside had 13 rebounds to go with eight points.

The Timberwolves were without their top two point guards -- Jeff Teague and Derrick Rose -- due to ankle injuries. Instead, third-string point guard Tyus Jones started his fourth game of the season and had 12 points and five assists.

Miami was without forward James Johnson, who is battling an illness. In Johnson's place was Derrick Jones Jr., who made his fifth start of the season and had 16 points and nine rebounds.

Miami, which trailed 30-19 after the first quarter, grabbed its first lead of the game at 44-42 on two Richardson free throws with 4:20 left in the second. Minnesota held a 55-54 lead at halftime as Towns had a double-double in the first 24 minutes alone -- 13 points and 12 rebounds.

In the third quarter, the Timberwolves stretched their lead to 86-77. Towns had 11 points and five rebounds in the period.

Towns had 10 more points in the fourth quarter as he was just too much for Miami.

--Field Level Media

Top Game Performances
 
Minnesota   Miami
Karl-Anthony Towns 34 Scoring Dwyane Wade 21
Karl-Anthony Towns 7 Assists Dwyane Wade 5
Karl-Anthony Towns 18 Rebounds Hassan Whiteside 13
Robert Covington 7 Free Throws Made Josh Richardson 7
Tyus Jones 5 Steals Justise Winslow 4
Karl-Anthony Towns 6 Blocks Hassan Whiteside 2
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
Minnesota 113 40.4 8-24 29-36 24 49 10 11 11
Miami 104 41.1 8-24 22-28 19 52 6 8 20
Upcoming Games
  • Miami will play their next game on the road against Cleveland. The Heat have a W/L % of .444 after a win and .529 after a loss.
  • Minnesota will play their next game on the road against New Orleans. The Timberwolves have a W/L % of .500 after a win and .450 after a loss.