The Memphis Grizzlies and Miami Heat open the season on Wednesday night. Those making odds favor the Heat despite some roster shakeup.
After an exciting offseason, the regular season has arrived for the Miami Heat. On Wednesday night they open up their regular season and their homecourt against the Memphis Grizzlies.
Miami this summer shipped out Josh Richardson but got Jimmy Butler in return (via a sign-and-trade with the Philadelphia 76ers). They drafted Tyler Herro, a pick that is already showing positive returns, at least in the preseason.
The year has already been full of drama and signals that the team is not messing around with any funny business this year. Dion Waiters will miss game one due to a suspension for conduct detrimental to the team, but there are underlying items at play and reports that he has been on the trading block for some time. James Johnson was suspended before training camp for showing up overweight.
In their first season without Dwyane Wade, this team clearly wants to win. It starts on Wednesday, and oddsmakers are assuming Miami will kick things off on the right foot.
Odds and moneyline for Memphis Grizzlies vs Miami Heat
In terms of pure talent, Miami should win this game, and oddsmakers agree.
Miami is an 8-point favorite with a moneyline of -350, odds per The Action Network.
The over/under for this game is 208, and with Miami lacking a few of its offensive options and Memphis being a young team going up against a typically hard-nosed defense, that seems fair even in a league that constantly launches more and more 3-pointers.
Last year the Grizzlies scored 103.5 points per game, Miami 105.7.
Dion Waiters suspension
The Heat will be without guard Dion Waiters in this contest. Waiters is serving a suspension that is nebulous under official team releases, but some have connected the dots on subliminal social media messages to decode the reasoning.
Waiters, while not the most efficient, can light the scoreboard up on any given night (he had seven games of 20 points or more last season), so his offensive production will be missed but it likely won’t be a difference-maker.
Jimmy Butler is a proven scorer, Justise Winslow and Goran Dragic can shoulder a lot offensively, Bam Adebayo is slipping in as the main big man option, and rookie Tyler Herro showed a lot of promise in the preseason. Herro will certainly get more looks than usual tonight with Waiters out.
New role for Goran Dragic
Goran Dragic is going to be coming off the bench and is graciously accepting the change of pace and a new role in Miami. A veteran player that is always looking to get his teammates involved, Dragic’s career average of 4.8 assists per game will be a jolt for the second unit.
Per game, Dragic scored the third-most on the team last year with 13.7 points.
Memphis Grizzlies are young but talented
On the other side, the Grizzlies have their own rookie in Ja Morant who was drafted second overall out of Murray State and projects to be the point guard if the future after the team traded longtime leader Mike Conley to the Utah Jazz.
The Grizzlies are extremely young and will put up a fight in every game this year, but they won’t have the firepower to keep up with most teams, even if only semi-competitive. They have lots of potential, but currently, they’re loading up the slingshot rather than aiming and firing.
The Heat have made it clear by signing Jimmy Butler (and trading away Josh Richardson as a part of that transaction) that the goal is to compete. Games like these are expected to be tallied as wins for Miami. A loss here would be disappointing.
Still, opening nights can be rather unpredictable. Teams are not completely familiar with opposing coaches and their rotations, plays, and schemes. The one thing that could throw Miami off on Wednesday is the freshness of how the Grizzlies look compared to previous years and being caught off guard. The same can be said from the Memphis perspective, though.