Nikola Jovic delivers game-winning moment to push Heat past Timberwolves. Takeaways and details

Five takeaways from the Miami Heat’s 95-94 dramatic win over the Minnesota Timberwolves (6-4) on Sunday night at Target Center to snap a three-game skid and improve to 1-2 on its six-game trip. The Heat (4-5) continues the trip on Tuesday against the Detroit Pistons at Little Caesars Arena in its first group-play game of the NBA’s second-annual in-season tournament:

Despite playing without Jimmy Butler for the first time this season, the Heat found a way to escape with a much-needed win over a quality Timberwolves squad.

After falling behind by eight points with 4:59 left in the fourth quarter, the Heat used a 12-4 run to erase an eight-point deficit and tie the score at 92 with 30 seconds to play.

A wild finish ensued.

The Timberwolves regained a two-point lead on a put-back layup from Jaden McDaniels with nine seconds left.

But the Heat ended up producing the game-winning moment on a play drawn up by coach Erik Spoelstra during a timeout.

With Duncan Robinson inbounding the ball, he found Nikola Jovic streaking into space off a back screen set by Terry Rozier. Jovic caught the inbounds pass and made the layup while being fouled by Nickeil Alexander-Walker to tie the score with 7.8 seconds remaining.

Jovic then made the free throw to complete the game-winning three-point play , giving the Heat a one-point lead in the final seconds.

“It is extremely difficult to generate an open shot on a side out of bounds, particularly against a team that is well coached, they have great length,” Spoelstra said. “So we were just fortunate. Duncan made a great pass, Niko made a great cut.”

Jovic gave credit to Spoelstra for designing the play.

“Spo had a great play,” Jovic said. “He told me I might have a chance and if I get it, I have to take it. Duncan told me he was going to pass it and Tyler [Herro] told me to shoot it. So yeah, I kind of went off a back screen, I was open and made it.”

The Timberwolves had one final opportunity to come away with the win, but Mike Conley missed a three-pointer with 2.6 seconds left. Heat center Bam Adebayo grabbed the defensive rebound as the final buzzer sounded.

The Heat’s bench immediately mobbed Jovic in celebration when the game ended.

“That was a signature win for us,” Adebayo said.

The Heat’s defense, specifically its zone defense, slowed a quality Timberwolves offense that entered with the NBA’s fifth-best offensive rating for the season.

Minnesota, which entered averaging 116 points per game this season, totaled just 94 points on 39.8 percent shooting from the field and 13 of 45 (28.9 percent) shooting on threes while committing 20 turnovers. The Timberwolves finished the loss with a season-low single-game offensive rating of 94.9 points per 100 possessions.

The Heat used its zone defense for 40 possessions, including 18 possessions in the fourth quarter, during Sunday’s win, according to Couper Moorhead from Heat.com.

“Man, it feels like we did all the little things on the defensive end, got steps, we got them to turn the ball over,” Adebayo said.

The Heat’s offense wasn’t much better, finishing Sunday’s win with its own season-low single-game offensive rating of 94.9 points per 100 possessions and a season-high 23 turnovers.

But the difference, along with Jovic’s game-winning play, was the Heat’s huge 26-4 edge in fast-break points.

With Butler out, Herro was again the catalyst for the Heat’s offense. He closed the win with a game-high 26 points on 9-of-15 shooting from the field, 4-of-8 shooting on threes and 4-of-5 shooting from the foul line, six rebounds and three assists, but he did commit eight turnovers.

“He’s becoming so efficient,” Spoelstra said of Herro, who is now averaging 23.2 points per game on 50.7 percent shooting from the field and 45.6 percent from three-point range.

The only other Heat players who finished with double-digit points on Sunday were Rozier (11 points) and Jovic (15 points).

Adebayo again struggled to make shots, scoring nine points on 3-of-11 shooting from the field, 0-of-2 shooting on threes and 3-of-6 shooting from the foul line. But Adebayo impacted the game in other areas with seven rebounds, seven assists, one steal and three blocks.

“That basketball is not always going to go in, man. It is what it is,” said Adebayo, who is now shooting just 38.6 percent from the field this season. “I’m not going to shy away from that. Shooting slumps happen. But being able to impact the game in different ways . . . it matters at the end of the day. I’m not just a player that just scores. I’m an all-around player.”

The short-handed Heat was feisty from the start, limiting the Timberwolves to 20 points on 7-of-25 (28 percent) shooting from the field and 2-of-12 (16.7 percent) shooting from three-point range in the first quarter.

The Heat led by as many as 12 points in the first half before the Timberwolves rallied in a game that came down to the final seconds.

Star Anthony Edwards scored a team-high 22 points for Minnesota, but he was inefficient. Edwards shot 8 of 24 from the field and 4 of 14 on threes.

The Heat’s win came at the end of a rough week, as the Heat lost to the Sacramento Kings by one point in Miami on Monday after Domantas Sabonis’ game-winner with 0.7 seconds left, then blew a 15-point second-half lead in a three-point loss to the Suns in Phoenix on Wednesday before trailing from start to finish in a 13-point loss to the Nuggets in Denver on Friday.

“This is the hardest we’ve played in any of the regular-season games this season,” Spoelstra said after Sunday’s victory. “It’s the message we tell our team all the time, that does not guarantee you anything. It doesn’t. But you put yourself out there as a competitor, you give yourself the best collective chance to win in a tough building.

“This is a tough team, an experienced team and it requires everybody on the roster playing as hard as they can, leaving it all out there and then you obviously have to make plays, which we did at the end.”

There’s still no definitive timetable for Butler’s return. But a return before the end of the Heat’s current trip hasn’t yet been ruled out.

Butler missed his first game of the season on Sunday after spraining his right ankle in the first quarter of Friday’s loss to the Nuggets in Denver.

“Right now, he’s just focused on treatment and doing whatever he has to do to get back out there,” Spoelstra said before Sunday’s game when asked about Butler’s status. “We don’t have a timeline right now, but he’s with us.”

It’s encouraging that Butler will stay on the road with the Heat instead of returning to Miami. The Heat has three games left on its trip — Tuesday against the Pistons and back-to-back games against the Indiana Pacers on Friday and Nov. 17.

When asked if there’s a chance that Butler could return before the end of the trip, Spoelstra didn’t want to give a definitive answer but didn’t rule it out.

“I don’t want to say one way or another,” Spoelstra said. “I know he’s not playing tonight and then we’ll just continue to gauge his progress. But he’s able to work around the clock, so that helps.”

For perspective, Butler was forced to miss two straight games last season after spraining his right ankle.

Butler sat out a total of 22 games because of injuries and other issues last season, with the Heat posting a 13-9 record in those games.

Along with missing Butler, the Heat was without Josh Christopher (G League) and Keshad Johnson (G League) on Sunday.

But Heat veteran center Kevin Love returned to make his season debut in Minneapolis after missing the first eight games of the season. He missed the first five games because of personal reasons and then sat out three games while working his way back into game shape.

The Heat also got second-year forward Jaime Jaquez Jr. back on Sunday after he missed the previous three games because of a stomach illness.

The Timberwolves had their full rotation available against the Heat.

With Butler out, the Heat made a few changes to its starting lineup to match up against the Timberwolves. The changes proved to be effective.

After going with the starting group of Rozier, Herro, Butler, Jovic and Adebayo in each of the first eight games of the season, Butler’s absence forced the Heat to make a change to the starting lineup.

The Heat ended up making two changes to the starting unit, opening Sunday’s game with Haywood Highsmith in Butler’s place and Love in Jovic’s place.

Those moves helped the Heat better match up against the Timberwolves’ starting lineup.

With the Heat trusting Love to guard Timberwolves starting center Rudy Gobert, that allowed Adebayo to open the game defending Timberwolves starting forward Julius Randle.

And Highsmith gave the Heat a quality option to open the game as the primary defender on Edwards.

Those changes worked on Sunday.

The Timberwolves built a narrow 10-9 lead through the first 4:22 of the game before the Heat made its first substitution of the night.

The Heat’s starting lineup then outscored the Timberwolves 11-5 to through the first 6:42 of the third quarter before making its first substitution of the second half.

The Heat’s starting group outscored the Timberwolves by five points in 11 minutes together on Sunday.

Love contributed six points, six rebounds, two assists and two steals in 13 minutes in his return.

“I wanted a little bit more veteran presence going into a tough building and coming off three losses,” Spoelstra said of moving Love into the starting lineup against the Timberwolves. “Kevin has really been prepping and preparing, he just has a savviness. And also, his leadership in these kinds of times, I think that helps.”

Those changes to the starting lineup led to changes to the Heat’s bench rotation.

The Heat went with a bench rotation of Josh Richardson, Kel’el Ware, Robinson, Pelle Larsson, Jaquez and Jovic against the Timberwolves.

It marked Jovic’s first game of the season off the bench after starting the first eight games. He was effective in a reserve role on Sunday, finishing with 15 points and seven rebounds while making the game-winning basket in 23 minutes off the bench.

Ware, who the Heat selected with the 15th overall pick in the first round of this year’s draft, played as the first big man off the bench Sunday for the third straight game. Prior to this three-game stretch, Ware’s only two appearances during the Heat’s first six games of the season came late in lopsided results.

Ware closed Sunday’s win with four points and three blocks in nine minutes.

Larsson, who the Heat took with the 44th overall pick in the second round of this year’s draft, logged just three minutes after playing double-digit minutes in the previous four games.

The only available Heat players who did not enter the game were Thomas Bryant, Dru Smith and Alec Burks.

The Heat won its first game in Minneapolis in nearly seven years.

The last time that the Heat defeated the Timberwolves at Target Center came on Nov. 24, 2017.

How long ago was that? Butler played in that game as a member of the Timberwolves before he was traded to the Philadelphia 76ers in 2018 and then joined the Heat in 2019.

But that skid in Minneapolis is now over after Jovic’s game-winner.

“It’s a karma win for us,” Jaquez said. “We feel like we’ve been working really hard trying to do the right things. Tonight was one of those nights that the ball bounced in our favor. So I’m just really happy for it.”