Anthony Edwards' 45-point outburst spoils Giannis Antetokounmpo's Miami Heat debut

MIAMI — Anthony Edwards made nine 3-pointers and scored 45 points as the Minnesota Timberwolves routed the Miami Heat 131-106 on Wednesday night at Kaseya Center, spoiling Giannis Antetokounmpo's first regular-season appearance since his trade from the Milwaukee Bucks over the summer. The nationally televised matchup was billed as one of the marquee games of the NBA's opening week, doubling as both Antetokounmpo's debut for his new team and the home opener for a Heat franchise built around him.

Edwards shot 16 for 29 from the field, including 9 for 17 from 3-point range, and added 10 rebounds, three assists, two steals and a block in just under 33 minutes. Antetokounmpo finished with 35 points on 13-for-19 shooting to go with six rebounds and one assist in his Heat regular-season debut, but Miami could not keep pace with a Minnesota team that shot 42 percent from deep as a group.

The numbers

• Timberwolves 131, Heat 106, at Kaseya Center, Miami
• Edwards: 45 points, 9-for-17 on 3-pointers, 10 rebounds, two steals
• Antetokounmpo: 35 points, 13-for-19 shooting, six rebounds, in his Heat regular-season debut
• Minnesota outscored Miami 63-24 on made 3-pointers and won the rebounding battle 52-34
• LaMelo Ball added 21 points in his own Timberwolves debut; Jaden McDaniels scored 17

Minnesota never trailed by more than four points and pulled away with a 23-7 run spanning the end of the second quarter and the start of the third, turning a one-point edge into a 78-61 cushion. Miami cut the deficit to eight points in the third quarter, but Minnesota answered immediately, closing the game on a decisive scoring run that put it out of reach. Rudy Gobert added 15 rebounds, Ayo Dosunmu scored 16 points and Jonathan Kuminga, making his own debut after being acquired by Minnesota in the offseason, contributed 12 points and four steals off the bench. Bam Adebayo led Miami's supporting cast with 15 points, and Davion Mitchell recorded 11 points and 11 assists in a losing effort.

A new era begins in Miami, with a loss

Wednesday's game carried added weight because it was Antetokounmpo's first regular-season outing for the Heat, who acquired the two-time MVP from the Bucks in a blockbuster trade finalized this past summer. Miami sent Tyler Herro, Kel'el Ware, Jaime Jaquez Jr., Kasparas Jakucionis and a package of draft picks to Milwaukee, while also receiving forward Bobby Portis in the deal, ending Antetokounmpo's 13-season run with the only NBA franchise he had known. The move reshaped the Eastern Conference hierarchy and put immediate pressure on Miami to contend, with Antetokounmpo entering the final guaranteed year of his contract before a $62.8 million player option for 2027-28.

The Heat had also reshaped their roster around him, adding shooting depth that included Klay Thompson, who made 3 of 6 attempts from 3-point range in the opener. None of it was enough to slow Minnesota, which also fielded new pieces of its own: Ball, acquired in an offseason trade, and Kuminga, formerly of Golden State, both made their Timberwolves debuts.

The trade that brought Antetokounmpo to Miami capped more than a year of speculation. Reporting at the time of the deal indicated he had told the Bucks as far back as the spring of 2025 that he wanted a trade, and that Milwaukee ultimately chose Miami's offer over a competing package from the Boston Celtics because it included more young talent and draft capital. In the end, Milwaukee's return centered on Herro, the 2021-22 Sixth Man of the Year, along with the young trio of Ware, Jaquez and Jakucionis and a string of first-round picks, while Portis joined Antetokounmpo in South Florida. The deal closed the book on a run in which Antetokounmpo won a championship and two MVP awards in Milwaukee, and it immediately made the Heat's season opener one of the most anticipated games of the league's first week.

Who it affects

The result does not change Miami's broader trajectory, but it is an early data point for a franchise that gave up significant young talent and draft equity on the belief that Antetokounmpo, even at 31, could push the Heat back into championship contention. He did not look overmatched in the loss, scoring in isolation and in transition much as he did in Milwaukee, but his new team was outscored by 39 points on 3-point shooting alone — a reminder that the Heat's roster fit, and particularly its half-court shot profile, is still a work in progress a single game into the Antetokounmpo era. For Minnesota, the win is early validation of an offseason that reshaped its own roster around Edwards, a four-time All-Star who won a gold medal with the U.S. men's basketball team at the 2024 Paris Olympics, after the front office added Ball and Kuminga via trade. Edwards, still only 25, has established himself as one of the faces of the league's younger generation of stars, and Wednesday's performance put him in the conversation for best individual game of the NBA's opening week.

What's next

Both teams return to action Friday. Minnesota travels to Orlando to face the Magic, while Miami hosts the Detroit Pistons at Kaseya Center as it looks for its first win of the Antetokounmpo era. The sample size is small, but Wednesday's result was an early reminder that Miami's retooled roster will need time — and better nights defensively — before results in the standings catch up to the arrival of its new superstar.