Los Angeles (United States) (AFP) – Minnesota star Anthony Edwards erupted for 45 points as the Timberwolves spoiled two-time NBA Most Valuable Player Giannis Antetokounmpo’s Miami Heat debut with a 131-106 triumph on Wednesday. Edwards, teaming seamlessly with new arrival LaMelo Ball, added 10 rebounds and three assists. He had nine of the Timberwolves’ 21 three-pointers while Ball, who joined from Charlotte this season, drilled five treys on the way to 21 points.
“At this point, me and him are gonna be like best friends,” Edwards told ESPN in an on-court interview before exchanging a beaming hug with Ball. Antetokounmpo, the former Bucks talisman who captured one championship and two Most Valuable Player awards in his 13-year tenure in Milwaukee, looked the part, connecting on 13 of 19 attempts from the floor on the way to 35 points with six rebounds. But the Heat as a whole — widely tipped as Eastern Conference contenders after landing Antetokounmpo — had no answer for the Timberwolves.
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“We’re going to have to step up our defense,” said Heat coach Erik Spoelstra, who added Miami’s offense “did not look like us.” The second night of the new season featured an array of familiar faces in new places. In Washington, Anthony Davis made his Wizards debut nine months after he was acquired from Dallas in a blockbuster trade and spearheaded a 128-118 victory over the Bucks. Now recovered from hand and groin injuries, Davis scored 34 points and pulled down 12 rebounds, drawing chants of “MVP!” from Wizards fans who suffered through the team’s league-worst 17-65 campaign last season and saw top draft pick AJ Dybantsa suffer an ankle injury in the team’s pre-season finale.
Trae Young, who was also acquired by Washington last season but played just five games for them because of injury, added 20 points and 13 assists in the Wizards’ first season-opening win since 2022. Tyler Herro, acquired in the trade that sent Antetokounmpo to Miami, led the Bucks with 24 points and Jaime Jaquez Jr., who arrived in the same deal, added 22. It was back to the future in Toronto, where the Raptors welcomed the return of Kawhi Leonard with a 135-92 blowout of the Chicago Bulls.
Leonard, who led the Raptors to their first NBA title in 2019, is back after a trade from the LA Clippers — a deal delayed by a league probe that found the Clippers and Leonard violated salary-cap circumvention rules, leading to stiff sanctions for the club. Leonard made five of 17 of his shot attempts but made all 11 of his free throws on the way to 23 points. Scottie Barnes and Immanuel Quickley also scored 23 points each for the Raptors, who led by as many as 48 points in the wire-to-wire triumph.
In a triumphant return, Indiana guard Tyrese Haliburton, playing his first game since he tore his right Achilles tendon in game seven of the 2025 NBA Finals, scored 13 of his 23 points in the fourth quarter and added 12 assists as the Pacers edged the Pelicans 123-120 in New Orleans. Haliburton, who put the Pacers ahead for good with a driving basket with 1:23 to play, was overcome with emotion in an on-court postgame interview. “It means a lot to be back out here,” he said, wiping away tears.
Dallas guard Kyrie Irving, playing his first game in more than 19 months after recovering from a torn anterior cruciate ligament, scored 15 points for the Mavericks in a 128-110 loss to the Houston Rockets — who had 30 points apiece from Kevin Durant and Jabari Smith Jr.
© 2024 AFP
