Two games into the season, and there is a glimmer of hope for Miami Heat fans. Despite the injury to Tyler Herro, along with rookie Kasparas Jakucionis missing the first two games of the season, the offense for Miami has looked far more dangerous than we've seen in recent years.
And even though Miami didn't play on Saturday night, the Memphis vs. Indianapolis game is a result that has to make Heat fans feel even better about what happened on Friday night.
Memphis demolishes Indianapolis on Saturday night
Memphis went out on Saturday night and steamrolled Indianapolis 128-103. The Grizzlies won all four quarters and made their big move in the 3rd quarter to put the game away for good.
Mind you, Memphis was just a 2.5-point favorite in this game, and while the Pacers are expected to struggle this year as Tyrese Haliburton heals, the Pacers did take Oklahoma City to the wire in their opening game on Thursday.
So add in the fact that Memphis was playing on a back-to-back while Indianapolis was not, and this was a good win for the Grizzlies.
Which also means...
Heat's win over Memphis looks even better
Friday night's win over Memphis sparked an array of possibilities for Miami this season. Starting Bam Adebayo and Kel'el Ware together looked to be the right move, and the Heat got some huge contributions off its bench, including a first-half explosion from Simone Fontecchio, and it was a near-perfect night from the Heat.
No, neither Memphis nor Indianapolis is considered among the actual NBA Finals contenders this season, but Miami did what one is supposed to do against a bottom-half team and blew them out.
Combined with the result from opening night, where Miami had a 4th quarter lead that slipped away once its size got worn down by Orlando, and two games into the 2025-26 campaign, there is a reason to believe the Heat might be better than advertised.
Miami went 0-6 in the preseason, and its offense looked anemic as no one could hit a three, and the "new look" high-tempo offense looked awful.
But after dropping 146 points on Memphis with Herro, without Jakucionis, and frankly, without having worked on any sustainable lineup combinations in the preseason, watching that same Memphis team turn around and hold the defending Eastern Conference champs to 103 points is an encouraging sign for what is possible this year.