Wiggins scores 24, Wolves hold off Whiteside and Heat 103-91
Minnesota Timberwolves guard Andrew Wiggins (22), forward Kevin Garnett (21) and guard Ricky Rubio (9) congratulate each other as they head to the bench area during a time out in the final seconds of the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Miami Heat, Tuesday, Nov. 17, 2015, in Miami. AP
MIAMI — Once the Minnesota Timberwolves stopped going at Hassan Whiteside, they were well on their way to continuing their run of road mastery to start this season.
Andrew Wiggins scored 24 points, Zach LaVine and Shabazz Muhammad combined for 33 off the bench and the Timberwolves overcame a triple-double from Whiteside to beat the Miami Heat 103-91 on Tuesday night.
The Timberwolves snapped a four-game slide and improved to 5-1 on the road, a most perplexing stat considering they’re 0-5 at home.
Karl-Anthony Towns scored 14 points and grabbed 14 rebounds for Minnesota, which outscored the Heat 41-22 in the fourth quarter. And it didn’t even matter that he was the second-best center on the court, with Whiteside simply dominant at the other end.
Whiteside put up his second career triple-double: 22 points, 14 rebounds and 10 blocks. But he was 2 for 9 from the foul line, getting sent to the bench for a critical stretch of the fourth after Minnesota started hacking him intentionally, and his teammates weren’t exactly shooting lights-out, either.
The Heat went 5 for 24 from 3-point range, 14 for 30 from the foul line and committed 22 turnovers while losing for the first time in four games.
Ricky Rubio was back in the lineup for Minnesota after missing four games – all Wolves losses – with a left hamstring strain. Rubio had seven points in 26 minutes, and Minnesota ended Miami’s seven-game streak of holding opponents under 100 points.
Kevin Garnett made his 66th appearance against the Heat, tying Reggie Miller for fifth all-time. Paul Pierce (77), Allan Houston (68), Patrick Ewing (67) and Charles Oakley (67) have opposed Miami more. … The 39-year-old Garnett is older than two of the referees who worked the game, Justin Van Duyne (34) and Matt Boland (39, born about four months after Garnett).
Minnesota has lost its last 13 home games going back to last season. The Timberwolves have the second-worst home record in the NBA (only Philadelphia is worse at 0-6), but the second-best road record in the early going (Golden State is 5-0).
Miami’s second unit, a big strength during the first 10 games of the season, was outplayed in a big way. Minnesota got 54 points from its reserves; Miami got 13 from its backups, with Justise Winslow, Tyler Johnson, Josh McRoberts and Green combining to shoot 3 for 14.
