Anthony Edwards #5 of the Minnesota Timberwolves goes to the basket against Kel'el Ware #7 of the Miami Heat in the second quarter at Target Center on January 06, 2026 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. David Berding Getty Images
Five takeaways from the Miami Heat’s 122-94 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves (24-13) on Tuesday night at Target Center to begin a four-game trip. The Heat (20-17) continues the trip on Thursday against the Bulls in Chicago:
The Heat finally got guard Tyler Herro back from injury. But Herro’s return ended with a blowout loss to the Timberwolves.
Herro made his return Tuesday after not playing in 11 consecutive games and also missing 13 of the last 14 games because of a right big toe contusion he sustained in the Heat’s road loss to the Dallas Mavericks on Dec. 3.
Herro even was relatively effective in his first game action in four weeks with 17 points in 28 minutes, but it didn’t matter.
The Heat, which led by as many as nine points in the first half, entered halftime in a 61-54 hole.
The Heat never could never overcome that deficit, as the Timberwolves pulled ahead by as many as 31 points and led for the entire second half.
The 28-point defeat is the Heat’s most lopsided loss of the season.
The Heat’s offense struggled to generate quality looks against the Timberwolves’ stingy defense, especially in half-court situations.
The Heat, which entered averaging the third-most points in the NBA this season at 120.8 per game, totaled just 94 points on 35.7 percent shooting from the field and 12-of-37 (32.4 percent) shooting from three-point range while committing 18 turnovers on Tuesday. It marked just the third game this season that the Heat has been held under 100 points, falling to 0-3 in those games.
The fourth quarter was really rough for the Heat, which missed 10 of its first 11 shots of the period.
Miami scored just 17 points on 5-of-20 (25 percent) shooting from the field and 2-of-12 (16.7 percent) shooting from behind the arc in Tuesday’s fourth quarter.
Norman Powell led the Heat with a team-high 21 points on 9-of-17 shooting from the field and 3-of-6 shooting from three-point range.
Herro (17 points) and Andrew Wiggins (10 points) were the only other Heat players who finished with double-digit points.
The Timberwolves were led by star guard Anthony Edwards, who finished with a game-high 26 points on 29 minutes.
With the Timberwolves also earning a 10-point win over the Heat in Miami on Saturday, Minnesota has now recorded two double-digit wins over Miami in four days.
Even with Herro making his return, the Heat did not change its starting lineup.
Instead, the Heat went with the starting lineup of Davion Mitchell, Norman Powell, Andrew Wiggins, Bam Adebayo and Kel’el Ware on Tuesday for the fifth straight game. It marked the 11th game this group has started for the Heat this season, which is the most among the 12 different starting lineups that Miami has used.
The Mitchell-Powell-Wiggins-Adebayo-Ware lineup, which entered Tuesday’s contest being outscored by opponents by 4.9 points per 100 possessions in 127 minutes together this season, dropped to 6-5 in its 11 starts this season.
This Heat lineup got the Heat off to a strong start on Tuesday, opening the game on a 19-14 run before the first substitution was made.
But the Heat’s starting unit was outscored by the Timberwolves 15-11 to begin the third quarter before Miami turned to its bench for the first time in the second half.
Herro played off the bench in his first game in nearly a month.
In Herro’s first game action since Dec. 9 and just his seventh game of the season, he recorded 17 points on 7-of-15 shooting from the field, 1-of-4 shooting from three-point range and 2-of-2 shooting from the foul line, nine rebounds and three assists in 29 minutes minutes off the bench.
Herro entered Tuesday’s game for his first stint with 5:33 left in the first quarter, hitting a corner three-pointer to make his first shot of the night.
Herro continued to make an impact in his minutes Tuesday, totaling 10 points on 4-of-5 shooting from the field and 1-of-1 shooting from three-point range, six rebounds and two assists in 14 first-half minutes.
But in the end, Herro’s production wasn’t nearly enough. Like every other player in the Heat’s rotation on Tuesday, Herro finished with a negative plus/minus at minus 25.
Herro, who also missed the first 17 games of the season due to left ankle surgery he underwent in September, missed 30 of the Heat’s first 36 games this season before returning to play against the Timberwolves.
Tuesday marked only the second game that Herro has played off the bench since the start of the 2022-23 season. His only two games as a reserve before Tuesday during this stretch came on April 5, 2024 and April 7, 2024 after he returned from a 20-game absence due to right foot medial tendinitis.
But after those two games off the bench toward the end of the 2023-24 season, Herro returned to a starting role. It remains to be seen how long Herro will play as a reserve after making his return on Tuesday from a toe contusion.
Herro proved to be a quality bench player earlier in his career though, becoming the first and only Heat player to ever win the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year award for the 2021-22 season.
Even with Herro entering the mix, the Heat’s bench still missed sixth man Jaime Jaquez Jr.
Jaquez, who has established himself as one of the early favorites for the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year award this season, missed his second straight game with a sprained right ankle.
Herro’s return and move to the bench allowed the Heat to use him in Jaquez’s usual sixth man role on Tuesday.
The problem is Herro’s production was the bench’s only efficient production against the Timberwolves.
Herro was part of a four-man Heat bench rotation that also included Nikola Jovic, Pelle Larsson and Dru Smith.
The problem is that Jovic, Larsson and Smith combined for only 19 points on 6-of-19 (31.6 percent) from the field and 3-of-9 (33.3 percent) shooting from three-point range on Tuesday.
The Heat then emptied its bench late in the blowout loss to the Timberwolves.
It was another low-scoring night for Adebayo.
Adebayo scored only four points on 2-of-5 shooting from the field in Tuesday’s first half. The second half wasn’t any better, as Adebayo scored just three points on 1-of-6 shooting from the field in the second half.
Adebayo finished the loss with seven points on 3-of-11 shooting from the field, 1-of-2 shooting on threes, 11 rebounds and three assists in 28 minutes. He did not generate any free throws in what turned out to be the second-lowest scoring performance of the season for Adebayo.
It has been a rough season for Adebayo on the offensive end so far.
Not only has Adebayo reached the 20-point mark just once in his last 12 appearances, but he also entered Tuesday averaging his fewest points since his third NBA season at 17.3 points per game and is also shooting a career-low 45.6 percent from the field this season.