Timberwolves 92 - 102 Heat
Final
  for this game

Heat top Rubio-less Wolves

Nov 9, 2014 - 7:29 AM

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Miami, FL (SportsNetwork.com) - Dwyane Wade had 25 points and eight assists, Chris Bosh added 24 points and seven boards and the Miami Heat defeated the Minnesota Timberwolves 102-92 on Saturday night.

Luol Deng netted 14 points for the Heat, who snapped a two-game skid after beginning 3-0.

"It was a good team win. For three quarters I really liked our disposition defensively," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said.

Nikola Pekovic posted 19 points and 11 rebounds, and Thaddeus Young supplied 16 points and six boards for Minnesota, which was without its young point guard Ricky Rubio for the first time this season.

"We battled," Wolves coach Flip Saunders said. "We got a couple of groups together that played hard. That was a positive to build on."

Rubio will be sidelined indefinitely with an ankle sprain, the team announced Saturday. Rubio left Friday's game against Orlando in the second quarter after turning his ankle and didn't return. The team said an MRI Saturday morning confirmed a "significant" sprain.

Rubio, who signed a four-year contract extension last week, is averaging 9.4 points, 10 assists and 5.6 rebounds so far in his fourth NBA season.

Kevin Martin hit consecutive 3-pointers to get the Wolves within 90-86 with 4:28 left.

Miami led 94-90 a couple minutes later prior to Bosh hitting a jumper and Wade driving in for a dunk for a 98-90 advantage with 1:54 to play.

Minnesota never cut the deficit below six the rest of the way.

The Heat raced out to a 14-2 start.

Norris Cole and Deng nailed back-to-back triples to cap the early onslaught about five minutes into the game. The margin stretched to 25-9 before Miami settled for a 29-13 cushion heading into the second.

The Heat led by as many as 20 in the closing minutes of the second, but Minnesota outscored them 14-6 to close the half and pulled within 53-41 heading into the break.

Miami remained ahead by at least double figures in the third and settled for an 80-69 spread going into the fourth.

Game Notes

Miami scored 23 points off 16 Minnesota turnovers ... The Heat shot 52.6 percent (41-of-78) from the field ... The Wolves were just 4-of-16 from beyond the arc ... Rookie Andrew Wiggins had 10 points on 3-of-9 shooting for Minnesota.






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