Anthony Edwards Records Second Career 40-Point Season Opener in Victory Over Heat

Anthony Edwards scored 45 points and grabbed 10 rebounds in a 131-106 Minnesota Timberwolves victory against the Miami Heat on Wednesday night.

Anthony Edwards scored 45 points to lead the Minnesota Timberwolves to a 131-106 victory over the Miami Heat on Wednesday night. Edwards shot 16-of-29 from the field and 9-of-17 from 3-point range, outscoring the entire Heat team from beyond the arc, as Miami finished 8-of-33 on 3-point attempts. The Timberwolves guard added 10 rebounds and three assists in just over 33 minutes of play.

With this performance, Edwards joined Wilt Chamberlain and Michael Jordan as the only players in the NBA's 81-year history to record multiple 40-point games in season openers. Edwards previously scored 41 points in last year's opening game against Portland. His scoring against Miami was distributed across all four periods, featuring 12 points in the first quarter, nine in the second, 15 in the third, and nine in the fourth.

Chamberlain achieved four consecutive 40-point openers from 1959 to 1962, while Jordan reached the mark in 1986, 1989, and 1995. Timberwolves coach Chris Finch noted that Edwards embraced the moment of opening night, while Edwards attributed his intensity to trash talk from an unidentified player on the Miami bench and motivation from a photo of his daughter watching the game past her bedtime.