Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel reports: Perhaps it wasn?t men against boys. But it certainly looked that way for extended stretches.

Shorthanded on talent, and just too short to stand up to an emerging Western Conference power, the Heat sunk further into an abyss with an 80-73 loss Tuesday night to the Minnesota Timberwolves at AmericanAirlines Arena.

Forced to open with Vladimir Stepania and Sean Marks in its power rotation against the Timberwolves? freakishly big front line, the Heat came short amid the continuing absences of center Alonzo Mourning and forwards Brian Grant and Kendall Gill.

?This is a mess right now,? coach Pat Riley said. ?This is an absolute mess. It?s very difficult right now. But it will come as we find some normalcy somewhere.?

With the Heat left with such mismatches as 6-foot-2 Anthony Carter against 6-7 Wally Szczerbiak and 6-7 Sam Mack against 6-11 Kevin Garnett, not even a late rally could prevent its first six-game losing streak since March 1994. At 2-8, the Heat is off to its worst start since it opened 0-10 in its inaugural 1988-89 season on the way to 0-17.