Heat comes away with OT win over Grizzlies to win Las Vegas Summer League championship
The Miami Heat’s first appearance in the Las Vegas Summer League championship game resulted in the Heat’s first Las Vegas Summer League title.
The Heat capped off its impressive summer run with a dramatic 120-118 overtime win over the Memphis Grizzlies on Monday night at Thomas & Mack Center on UNLV’s campus in the Las Vegas Summer League championship game.
The Heat won its final eight summer league games on the way to being crowned the Las Vegas Summer League champions, which came with rings and a postgame trophy ceremony. With a 2-1 record in the California Classic and 6-0 record in the Las Vegas Summer League, the Heat closed with an 8-1 overall record during this year’s summer league run that spanned 17 days.
With the fourth quarter ending in a 113-113 tie and Las Vegas Summer League using an overtime target score of the tied score at the end of regulation plus seven points, the first team to reach 120 won Monday’s championship game.
That was the Heat, which won the game on an 11-foot touch shot from Pelle Larsson over a smaller Grizzlies defender to break the 118-118 tie. Larsson was immediately swarmed by his summer league teammates in celebration.
“Coach drew up a great play that we’ve run in practice a bunch of times,” Larsson said. “They did a good job of guarding it ... and then I just made it.”
It was a bumpy ride for the Heat to even reach overtime on Monday.
The Grizzlies led for most of the night, but the Heat stayed within striking distance and eventually rallied from a nine-point fourth-quarter deficit to take a one-point lead with 2:15 to play.
After Scotty Pippen Jr. made one of two free throws to tie the score at 110 with 1:11 remaining, Cole Swider drained a three-pointer off an assist from Alondes Williams to put the Heat back ahead by three points with 20.6 seconds left in regulation.
The Grizzlies responded, though, with GG Jackson II making a clutch three-pointer of his own to even the score with 11.4 seconds to play in regulation.
It appeared the Heat would then be left with the final possession of the fourth quarter, but Williams was called for a charge on a drive to the basket with 4.2 seconds remaining.
The Grizzlies also came up empty on their final possession of the fourth quarter, sending the game into overtime tied at 113 before the Heat came away with the victory on Larsson’s shot. The result marked the Grizzlies’ first loss of the Las Vegas Summer League.
“We could have easily just kind of caved,” said Heat summer league head coach Dan Bisaccio, who has been with the organization for the last 10 seasons. “There’s a couple of moments there, they’re up six and they’re up eight and we’re not getting great actions. We could have easily just folded. But that group in there, that collective grit, toughness and willingness just to continue to find solutions when things aren’t going the right way, I think that really led to a lot of success.”
This year’s Heat draft picks Kel’el Ware (first-round selection) and Larsson (second-round selection) were again impressive on Monday.
Ware, who learned earlier in the day that he was selected for the All-Summer League First Team, finished with 21 points on 8-of-10 shooting from the field and 5-of-6 shooting from the foul line, 10 rebounds and one block.
Larsson battled through foul trouble that limited him to five minutes of playing time in the first half, but he still came away with the game-winner in overtime and ended the night with 16 points on 7-of-9 shooting from the field and 1-of-2 shooting on threes, three rebounds, four assists, one steal and one block.
Former NBA first-round pick Josh Christopher, who was named the Las Vegas Summer League championship game’s Most Valuable Player, scored a team-high 24 points on 6-of-10 shooting on threes for the Heat on Monday. He also added four rebounds, one assist, three steals and two blocks.
“We’ve been grinding from the start, and now we won,” said Christopher, who is still looking for an NBA contract. “Just trust and playing hard. We wanted to win, and we won.”
Williams, who is also unsigned, added 21 points, five rebounds and six assists for the Heat.
With summer league now over, some players from the Heat’s summer league team will soon return to Miami to continue preparing for training camp in early October and others will begin looking for their next basketball opportunity.
“By the end of this today, a lot of us coaches, we were really hoping that it wouldn’t be over,” Bisaccio said. “Obviously, yes the priority is we want to win the championship. But at the same time, this journey that we were on with this group was amazing. It was something truly special.
“I understand this is summer league. But the fact that these guys came together as a group like that, they kind of put aside their individual goals for the better of the team. I just think that speaks volumes to who they are and what their character is.”
Here are other observations and things to know from the Heat’s overtime win over the Grizzlies:
▪ Heat forward Keshad Johnson missed his third straight game after spraining his left ankle during Wednesday’s summer league win over the Dallas Mavericks.
Johnson, who the Heat has already signed to a two-way deal, was one of the biggest summer league bright spots for Miami. He impressed with his motor, physicality and versatility on both ends of the court, averaging 11.7 points, 5.2 rebounds and 1.2 assists per game in six summer league appearances for the Heat.
Projected as a three-and-D forward at the NBA level, Johnson shot 7 of 18 (38.9 percent) on threes and racked up nine steals and six blocks during his six summer league games.
Johnson, who went undrafted out of Arizona last month, is essentially a lock to keep his two-way contract and enter training camp on the Heat’s roster after a standout summer league.
▪ Swider continued to make threes for the Heat, totaling 19 points on 5-of-8 shooting from three-point range in Monday’s win.
Swider shot 26 of 53 (49.1 percent) from three-point range in seven summer league appearances this year.
Swider, who spent last season on a two-way deal with the Heat, is an unrestricted free agent after the Heat withdrew his qualifying offer last week. He is free to sign a two-way deal or standard contract with any NBA team.
▪ Along with Ware being selected for the All-Summer League First Team, the NBA announced Monday that Heat second-year forward Jaime Jaquez made the All-Summer League Second Team despite only playing in two summer league games.
Jaquez played in the Heat’s first two Las Vegas Summer League games and he was the best player on the court in both. He averaged 26 points, eight rebounds, 3.5 assists and 1.5 steals per game while shooting an ultra-efficient 58.1 percent from the field and 3 of 7 (42.9 percent) from three-point range while leading the Heat to two wins during summer league.
▪ The Grizzlies were without center Zach Edey, who they selected in the first round of this year’s draft, because of an ankle injury he suffered earlier in summer league.
This story was originally published July 22, 2024 at 10:30 PM.
