Miami Heat Defeat Minnesota Timberwolves In Final Minute

The Miami Heat win their first game without Jimmy Butler and raise their record to 4-5. The Miami Heat will travel to Detroit for a game Tuesday night.

Nov 10, 2024; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Miami Heat guard Tyler Herro (14) shoots the ball over Minnesota Timberwolves forward Julius Randle (30) in the first half at Target Center. / Jesse Johnson-Imagn Images

Nikola Jovic came off the bench to score the winning points for the Miami Heat as they defeated the Minnesota Timberwolves 95-94.

Jovic scored on a backscreen set up by Duncan Robinson and was fouled. His foul shot with under eight seconds to play was the difference as Miami gets the victory.

"My teammates believe in me and that's the most important thing," Jovic said. "I think this was a real important win for us tonight."

Spoelstra said the play was perfect because it worked. Had it not worked, he would have been second guessed for not having Herro take the shot.

"That is what is so silly about all of this, tonight we score on it, so it's a great play" Miami coach Erik Spoelstra said. "We were fortunate Niko made a great cut, Duncan made a great pass. It was a karma game. This is the hardest we have played this season. You put yourself out there as a competitor you give yourself the best chance to win in a tough building."

After the loss Friday night in Denver, Spoelstra called Jovic out and benched him to start the second half. He responded Sunday night coming off the bench.

"I don't want to have to do this again," Spoelstra said. "I'm looking for the effort. I am looking for the results. Niko brought the ball up the court and its the karma of the game. You do the right things in the course of the game and you hope the Gods look down on you."

Jovic understands where Spoelstra was coming from.

"It was hard, Spo just told me to stay ready. They told me to just be me," Jovic said. "I helped the defense and did what was asked of me."

Free throws were a problem for the Heat all night as they went 15 of 22 from the line. With 1:29 left Bam Adebayo missed two free throws.

Minnesota's Mike Conley, Jr. missed what could have been the game winner for the Timberwolves with four seconds to play. Adebayo grabbed the rebound and dribbled out the clock.

Tyler Herro scored 26 points to lead the Heat. Jovic had 15 points and seven rebounds to pace the Heat.

"Tyler kept us afloat tonight. I thought he managed the pressure very well tonight." Spoelstra said. "I was really pleased with his decision making."

Kevin Love, seeing his first action of the season, scored six points with six rebounds. Rookie center Kel'el Ware scored four points, but he had three big blocks in 9:02.

"We are day to day right now, that's how we are going to live," Spoelstra said. "The UCLA boys [Love and Jaime Jaquez, Jr.] had a good game tonight."

Adebayo had a slow night again offensively as he had nine points. However, the big man had seven rebounds and seven assists to go with three blocks.

"I am more tired celebrating Niko than I am from the 13 minutes I played," Love said after the game. "This was a great response tonight. Spo drew up a great play for Niko and it was just great execution down the stretch."

Live Updates:

Fourth Quarter:

Foul on Herro, 3:7 seconds to play. Minnesota ball with no timeouts. Conley misses the jumper and Adebayo grabs the rebound as the Heat come up with the 95-94 victory.

Miami 95, Minnesota 94, End of Game

Jovic gets the inbound on a backscreen and he gets the foul. Jovic makes the three-point play and Miami has a one-point lead with 7.8 seconds to play.

Miami 95, Minnesota 94

McDaniel with the putback and the foul. Minnesota goes up by three with :09 to play. Miami challenges the defensive foul on Highsmith. Miami wins the challenge and there is no foul shot.

Minnesota 94, Miami 92

Highsmith misses a free throw, but cuts the lead to two with :52 to play. Rozier gets fouled with :30 to play. Rozier ties the game. Minnesota timeout.

Miami 92, Minnesota 92

Adebayo fouled with 2:34 to play. Adebayo misses both free throws. Heat down by three. Jovic cuts through the basket and slices the lead to one. Randle follows up with a bucket with :53 to play.

Minnesota 92, Miami 89

Foul stands and Herro shoots three foul shots. Herro hits three. Herro with 27 points. Walker with the layup.

Minnesota 90, Miami 87

Miami with a clear path foul sends Highsmith to the line for two, he makes one. Heat have the ball with 3:55 left to play, down by four. Herro fouled on a three-point attempt with 3:36 to play. Minnesota challenges the foul. Time out on the floor.

Minnesota 88, Miami 84

Anthony Edwards with the corner three was a dagger with 4:45 to play. Herro answers and cuts the lead to five. Herro has 23 points for the game.

Minnesota 88, Miami 83

Jovic with the strong right hand layup. Cuts the lead to four. Rozier with the basket off the glass and the foul. Rozier cuts the lead to one with 7:12 to play. Randle drives through the lane for two. Herro with the triple. Minnesota strikes back lead back up to five with 5:20 left.

Minnesota 85, Miami 80

After two turnovers, Miami calls time out.

Minnesota 78, Miami 72

Adebayo in the lane with the layup. Randle misses a triple and Jaquez travels for Miami's 18th turnover of the game. Minnesota with the triple and the lead goes to four. Herro cuts it to two with 8:52 to play in regulation.

Minnesota 74, Miami 72

Third Quarter:

Jaquez, Jr. finds the basket on his 7th triple of the season. He then scores as the third quarter buzzer goes off to cut the lead to three.

Minnesota 71, Miami 68, End of Third Quarter

Miami scoreless in the last 4:20, DiVicenzo with back to back triples. They lead by eight. 15-0 T-Wolves run. Third quarter really haunting Miami. Miami scoreless for 6:00.

Minnesota 71, Miami 63

Gobert with the basket and the foul with 4:52 to play in the quarter. Heat lead cut to four. Timberwolves with the triple on an 8-0 run.

Minnesota 64, Miami 63

Herro with the dunk off of a steal by the Heat. Anthony Edwards with the 3-pointer. Love follows with the bucket and the foul.

Miami 63, Minnesota 56

Highsmith 3-pointer. Love to Rozier with the end to end pass for the layup.

Miami 57, Minnesota 51

Second Quarter:

Bam Adebayo with his third block in the first half. Herro scores on a layup from Adebayo, 1:53 to play in the half. Herro with the pull up from 15 feet. Miami lead up to five. Julius Randle cuts it to 3. Herro with a 3-pointer. Gobert with his ninth rebound of the half leads to a triple. Heat lead cut to one at the half.

Miami 52, Minnesota 51, End of First Half.

Heat lead cut to four. Minnesota on 11-2 run. Bam Adebayo with a big dunk increases the Heat lead to three. Anthony Edwards with the dunk, to bring the lead back down to one with 3:03 to play in the half.

Miami 43, Minnesota 42

Nikola Jovic misses the jump hook, foul on Pelle Larsson. Robinson hits another triple. Heat up by 12. Rudy Gobert with a put back dunk. Ware with a long corner two. Edwards hits his third 3-pointer. Miami up by nine with 5:27 to play in the half. Time out on the floor.

Miami 41, Minnesota 32

Duncan Robinson with this 18th triple of the season off an assist from Bam Adebayo. Alexander Walker then gets a 3 for the T-Wolves. Robinson then scores off of a hook off the glass. Nikola Jovic with his second triple off the bench. Time out called.

Miami 35, Minnesota 23

First Quarter:

Nikola Jovic with a 3-pointer, gives Miami an eight-point lead. Jamie Jaquez, Jr. with a layup. Heat lead is at seven with 1:25 to play in the quarter. Heat shooting 50 percent, while Minnesota is shooting 28 percent.

Miami 27, Minnesota 20, End of the First Quarter

Kel'el Ware with the alley-oop from Tyler Herro was impressive. Tyler Herro with the triple. Miami retakes the lead at 18-15 with 3:49 to play. Josh Richardson hits two free throws.

Miami 20, Minnesota 15

Kevin Love with a triple to tie the game at 9. Jaden McDaniels scores one from the free throw line to give the Timberwolves a lead. Haywood Highsmith with the layup from Tyler Herro. Herro from Love highlights a 9-1 Heat run.

Miami 13, Minnesota 10

Anthony Edwards with a game-opening triple. Terry Rosier drives through the lane to score the first bucket for the Miami Heat. After two free throws by Minnesota, Rozier scores again on a layup. 9:27.

Minnesota 5, Miami 4

NOTE: Haywood Highsmith starts for Jimmy Butler. Kevin Love starts for Nikola Jovic.

Scott Salomon is a contributor to Miami Heat On SI. He can be reached at sas@southfloridamedianetwork.com.

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