Heat vs Grizzlies Observations: Miami Can’t Get Over the Hump
By Wes Goldberg
So close, yet so far for the Miami Heat. Down by as many as 16 points to the Memphis Grizzlies, the Heat rallied in the second half to bring the game to within a point five times with the ball, but were never able to tie or take the lead in a 103-95 loss.
The Heat really do live and die with the way Dwyane Wade plays. Wade had 25 points on 11-of-17 shooting and seven assists and gave the Heat their best shot to score on almost every possession. Whether he was scoring himself or setting up teammates, almost everything revolves around Wade, who scored his 18,000th point of his career in the second quarter.
Miami got some help from the small forward position tonight, with Luol Deng and Danny Granger combining for 34 points (18 for Granger, 16 for Deng). Chris Andersen finished with 13 points after scoring 12 against the Cavs on Christmas.
It was a tale of two halves for the Heat, who committed 13 turnovers in the first half and just three in the second half. They played a strong second half and almost had the game but, when it comes down to it, they have to work way to hard for good shots. Even when they do get them, guys like Mario Chalmers, Norris Cole and James Ennis are often unable to convert. The Heat drop to 6-11 at home, 14-17 overall.
Random Game Observations:
- Birdman struggled early to protect the rim and was pulled after about a minute and replaced by Hassan Whiteside, who didn’t help matters in the paint very much at all.
- More on Whiteside… He is VERY raw on offense. Where Andersen is one of the best centers in the league diving on the pick-and-roll, Whiteside sets poor screens and is slow on the roll. The Heat run a lot of PnR’s with their bigs, so Whiteside will need to improve on this if he wants to be more than a situational player on this team. He does run the floor well, so he has the potential to move within the PnR better. He did have a nice catch and roll in the second quarter in a PnR with Wade, and he makes himself an open option on offense. Just needs work on those basket moves.
- Granger hit first 2 3-pointers of the game… he’s looking better but still not getting much lift on his jumpers… still, the improvement in his step is noticeable… he was the first player with double-digit points for the Heat and finished with 18 points. Maybe he’s starting to come along.
- Dwyane Wade got his 18,000th point with about 5:20 left in the second quarter. He took a forearm to the face from Marc Gasol, milked it in typical Wade fashion despite not getting the call, than hit a floater over Gasol for the milestone.
- Wade had 13 points in the second quarter
- FIRST HALF STATS: Memphis 57, Miami 41… 13 turnovers… Heat 50% FG (16-32), 30% 3FG (3-10), 13 REB, 6 AST… Grizzlies… 60.5% FG (23-38), 50% 3FG (3-5), 14 REB, 15 AST… Memphis 24 points in the paint, Miami 16…. Wade with 15 points, Granger 12 points… Conley 16 points, 1 assist, Gasol 12 points, 6 rebounds… just eight free throws in the first half, four from Whiteside… Heat need to be aggressive and get to the line…
- Bird started the second half better than the first, with a couple of blocks and a putback dunk in the first three minutes.
- Turd quarter? Not so much. Heat outscored Grizzlies 28-15 to bring score to 72-69 heading into the fourth… had a 14-5 run and an 11-0 run in the period.
- Heat really do live and die with how Wade plays. But, hey, that worked for years before. Sort of.
- Cole and Chalmers finished 5-of-20 from the field. UGH.
- Deng did a little shot creating for someone else with 2:01 left, finding Andersen for the lob to make it 93-91 after free throws.
- With 1:01 left, Wade gets the steal and the long lay in to make it 95-93
- Just like the rest of the game, Miami couldn’t make shots when they needed them. They have to work too hard for good looks and often defer to Wade creating for himself. This is when having Bosh–a triple threat on every offensive possession–really helps.