Minnesota’s season opened with a 131-106 win over Miami, and the first live look at the Timberwolves’ bench put Joan Beringer right in the middle of the discussion. In 13 minutes, he scored zero points on 0-of-2 shooting, but he grabbed six rebounds, including four on the offensive glass, and finished with one foul.
That matters because the Timberwolves entered the season with a lingering question behind Rudy Gobert, and this was the first chance to see how the reserve frontcourt might hold up when the games counted. Joan Beringer’s work around the rim was the clearest sign that Minnesota may have something there, even before the rest of the rotation settled in.
Ayo Dosunmu made the strongest all-around case among the reserves, scoring 16 points on 6-of-13 shooting with five rebounds and three assists in 29 minutes. Terrence Shannon Jr. added 10 points in 20 minutes, while Bones Hyland hit one three in 3:51 before leaving the game. Minnesota also finished with 17 offensive rebounds and 20 second-chance points, numbers that explain why the margin never tightened.
Still, the night did not fully answer the question that has followed Minnesota since preseason. The game turned into a blowout after Anthony Edwards poured in 45 points with nine made threes, and that made the reserve minutes useful but not definitive. Beringer looked physical and active, but Miami never forced him into the kind of extended interior fight that would show whether he can handle the backup center role over a longer sample.
So the opener gave Minnesota a promising first read, not a final verdict. Beringer’s rebounding travels, and that is a real starting point, but the Timberwolves will not know much more until a Timberwolves game keeps him on the floor when the other team actually targets the paint.
