The Minnesota Timberwolves beat the Miami Heat 131-106 in Miami on Wednesday night, and Anthony Edwards supplied the line that turned the score into a story: 45 points and nine 3-pointers.

ESPN's recap places the night in historical company. Edwards joined Wilt Chamberlain and Michael Jordan as the only players with at least 40 points in multiple season openers, the report said.

Why "multiple" carries the comparison

Edwards scored 41 in last season's opener at Portland. Wednesday was the second time he has opened a season with 40 or more.

An opener is one game out of 82, so a big first night is a highlight more than a forecast. ESPN names only two other players who have managed at least 40 in more than one opener.

Nine 3-pointers account for 27 of his 45 points, by simple arithmetic from the reported numbers. The recap gives the total and the three-point count, and it does not break down the rest of his scoring.

A night built this way depends on one skill working early. More than half of his points came from beyond the arc, which is a different profile from a scoring night assembled at the free-throw line. ESPN reports the makes but not the attempts, so the recap does not show how efficient the shooting was, only how much of the scoring came from it.

Two debuts in one game

Giannis Antetokounmpo's first game with Miami was the other debut in the building, and it ended in a 25-point home loss. ESPN framed the result as the Timberwolves spoiling his debut.

LaMelo Ball scored 21 in his Minnesota debut, according to the same report. That is the second new arrival the game introduced, and the more useful line for anyone working out how Minnesota's rotation fits together.

Put together, the two reported Minnesota lines account for 66 points, which leaves 65 of the team's 131 unaccounted for in the recap. The win was not a two-man total, even if those are the two names the report chose to highlight.

Miami's side of the box score is thinner in the report. Beyond the result, ESPN gives no individual line for Antetokounmpo's first appearance, so this article makes no claim about how he played.

What the recap does not settle

ESPN's text gives the score, Edwards' line and the historical comparison. It does not include a full box score, so minutes, rebounds, turnovers and the rest of Miami's scoring are not answered here.

It also does not compare Edwards' 45 with the Timberwolves' previous opening-night records. Whether this was the best opener in franchise history stays an open question rather than a claim this article makes. The recap also gives no career-high context for the 45, so the figure stands as a season-opening number rather than a personal best.

One detail is on the record: both of Edwards' 40-point openers came on the road, at Portland last season and in Miami on Wednesday.

What the result settles

For the standings, the night is a 25-point road win for Minnesota and a home loss for Miami in Antetokounmpo's first game with the team. The margin comes from the 131-106 final score, the only team-level figure the recap gives beyond the individual lines.

The line that matters is 45 points on nine 3-pointers, with Chamberlain and Jordan the only names beside him.