MIAMI \u2014 The Giannis Antetokounmpo part was a given. And the Miami Heat\u2019s prime offseason addition gave a prime-time performance.<\/p>\n
The question when it came to a potential season of contention was the remainder of the roster.<\/p>\n
That remained in question after Wednesday night\u2019s 131-106 season-opening loss<\/a> to the Minnesota Timberwolves at Kaseya Center.<\/p>\n After recent seasons of attempting to singularly lift the Milwaukee Bucks, Antetokounmpo found himself not only again in the midst of heavy lifting, but this time also second best on the court.<\/p>\n While Antetokounmpo closed with 35 points on 13-of-19 shooting, the star of the nationally televised showcase was Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards, who closed with 45 points, shooting 9 of 17 on 3-pointers.<\/p>\n Antetokounmpo became the third Heat player with at least 30 points in a season opener. LeBron James scored 37 in the 2011 season opener and 31 in the 2010 opener. Tim Hardaway scored 32 in the 1999 season opener.<\/p>\n But not a night to celebrate individual numbers.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t know what it is, you know, the excitement of the first game of the season,\u201d Antetokounmpo said of such an uneven performance. \u201cBut we\u2019ve got to be better. We have to be better. Our offense has got to be better. We\u2019ve got to trust one another.\u201d<\/p>\n Edwards was supported by 21 points from prime Timberwolves offseason addition LaMelo Ball.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re going to have to step up our defense,\u201d Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. \u201cWe know that. And it\u2019s going to have to be all across the board.\u201d<\/p>\n Beyond Antetokounmpo\u2019s offense, the Heat got 15 points from Bam Adebayo, as well as 11 points and 11 assists from Davion Mitchell, who also had five turnovers.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve got to have our swarming defense,\u201d Adebayo said. \u201cI feel like we weren\u2019t swarming as much as I would have liked. I feel like we showed spurts of that every once in a while.\u201d<\/p>\n The Heat now have Thursday off, before a back-to-back set of the Detroit Pistons at home on Friday night and the Saturday night at the Charlotte Hornets.<\/p>\n \u201cNone of us like to be humbled like that,\u201d Spoelstra said. \u201cWe have a lot of competitors in the locker room. So we\u2019ll get to it. We\u2019ll get to the film and do what we need to do.\u201d<\/p>\n Simply not good enough, Mitchell said.<\/p>\n \u201cWe didn\u2019t stick to our principles,\u201d he said. \u201cThroughout the course of the game, I felt like we were always trying to make a play, and we weren\u2019t kind of trusting the things that we\u2019d done.\u201d<\/p>\n Five Degrees of Heat from Wednesday night\u2019s game:<\/p>\n 1. Game flow: The Heat trailed 34-32 at the end of the opening period and 69-59 at halftime. The Timberwolves then moved to a 17-point lead early in the third period.<\/p>\n While the Heat pushed back with a 9-0 run early in the third, they still went into the fourth down 99-81.<\/p>\n From there, the Timberwolves pushed their lead to 23 early in the final period, quashing any Heat hopes of a comeback bid.<\/p>\n \u201cThey dominated the turnovers, they dominated the offensive glass, they dominated the three-point line,\u201d Spoelstra said, with the Heat closing with 19 turnovers and beaten 17-4 on the offensive glass.<\/p>\n 2. Giannis time: Antetokounmpo opened the scoring with a 17-foot pullup jumper and then, when fouled on the Heat\u2019s second possession, received \u201cM-V-P!\u201d chants while at the time making both free throws.<\/p>\n Antetokounmpo scored the Heat\u2019s first eight points, before Klay Thompson converted a 3-pointer.<\/p>\n Antetokounmpo played the first 5:32, before being subbed out in favor of Bobby Portis Jr.<\/p>\n His second shift came alongside the reserve corps of Portis, Tim Hardaway Jr., Pelle Larsson and Nikola Jovic.<\/p>\n