MIAMI- Andrew Wiggins and Ricky Rubio spearheaded a 41-point fourth quarter performance by the Minnesota Timberwolves en route to a 103-91 victory over the Miami Heat at American Airlines Arena.
With the Wolves slightly ahead 84-82 with under 5 minutest left in the game, Wolves head coach Sam Mitchell employed a Hack-a-Whiteside and stalled Miami's offense. Heat center Hassan Whiteside struggled from the charity stripe and shot just 2 for 9. His team didn't do well either overall having made just 46 percent from the free throw line (14 out of 30).
Miami wasted a triple double performance by Heat center Hassan Whiteside who registered 22 points 14 rebounds and 10 blocks. Loul Deng chipped in 20 points while Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade added 10 point a piece in a losing cause.
Wiggins, last year's NBA Rookie of the a Year led all scorers with 24 points while fellow second-year teammate Zach Lavine came off to bench to score 17 points including a pivotal corner three to put the Wolves ahead by 9 with 1:44 left in the game.
Wiggins described their fourth-quarter finish to the media after the game, "It's just heart. We've been on a four-game losing streak, so this was a big win for us. We were aggressive the whole game."
Despite a 0-5 start at home the Wolves are 5-1 on the road.
"I think the road is a blessing to us," Wiggins said. "That's one of the joys of playing on the road... everyone's against you, except the guys on your team."
The Wolves will travel two hundred miles up north and face the Orlando Magic Wednesday , while Miami will host the Sacramento Kings Thursday.
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