Heat drubbed in Memphis for seventh loss in row. Five takeaways as Miami’s misery continues
Five takeaways from the Heat’s lopsided 125-91 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies on Saturday night at FedEx Forum, a defeat that dropped Miami nine games under .500 for the first time since 2016-17:
▪ The Heat’s seventh consecutive defeat featured many of the same elements of the previous six.
That meant a cocktail of damaging offensive droughts, an inability to control ball-handlers off the dribble, an inability to stop sustained runs, too many offensive rebounds and put-backs by the opponent, mindless turnovers and second half collapses.
“Enough has been said in the locker room,” Erik Spoelstra said after the latest loss Saturday night. “We have a certain standard to expect to play and compete. We didn’t meet that standard tonight.”
After allowing an early 14-0 avalanche to fall behind by 18, the Heat strung together a 21-6 run to close to within three, only to watch Memphis respond with a 14-4 spurt to surge ahead 63-48 at the half.
Miami drew to within 12 midway through the third before unraveling. Memphis outscored the Heat 31-19 in the third to go to the fourth ahead 94-67.
The drubbing continued from there, with Memphis extending its lead to 32.
“We lost our competitive spirit in the second half,...” Spoelstra said. “Vets who have been in our locker... this is humbling.”
Even with the Grizzlies missing All Star point guard Ja Morant due to a shoulder injury, the Heat again couldn’t muster nearly enough offense.
Bam Adebayo snapped out of a mini-offensive slump with 18 points but didn’t have nearly enough support.
Tyler Herro finished with just eight points on 3 for 12 shooting in 22 minutes. He did dish out seven assists, including a couple to Kel’el Ware for dunks.
Andrew Wiggins opened 0 for 3, didn’t score until late in the first half and closed with 8 points on 3 for 8 shooting in 22 non-consequential minutes.
“You’ve got to be a competitor, fight until you can fight no more,” Wiggins said. “I could have done a better job doing a lot of things this game.”
Duncan Robinson shot 0 for 3 in 13 scoreless first half minutes, was benched at halftime and didn’t play again.
The Heat committed 14 turnovers, several of them particularly careless, and shot just 9 for 37 (24.3 percent) on threes.
During March, Miami is averaging a league-worst 107.5 points per 100 possessions. Twenty two teams are averaging at least 113 points per 100 possessions during that time, with the Spurs first at 127.3.
Poor shooting and turnovers are a big part of Miami’s slump, but so is a lack of free throws; Miami attempted just four in the first half. Since Feb. 1, the Heat is bottom five in the league in free throw attempts – a strength of since-jettisoned forward Jimmy Butler.
Meanwhile, the Grizzlies shot 55 percent and bludgeoned Miami, scoring 72 points in the paint, the most permitted by the Heat this season and the most since allowing 76 points in the paint in a game in 2008.
It was the Heat’s second-worst loss of the season, behind only a 36-point shellacking by Utah.
By the end of the night, Miami had dropped to 13-21 on the road and 4-14 since trading an unhappy Butler to Golden State. Meanwhile, the Warriors beat the Knicks and are 14-1 when Butler plays for Golden State.
Spoelstra was circumspect afterward.
“We are desperate to our souls to collectively figure out how to win one game,” he said. “We focus on the process. In these moments, you have to stick to a process. We are trying to build necessary habits.”
Spoelstra spoke of trying to find “collective joy through this process. It’s not going to be fun when you’re losing. But there can be joy in terms of competing together and playing well.
“We are struggling to figure out how to win games. A thing that would solve a lot of it is getting an incredible effort collectively to win one game. That would put a smile on a lot of our faces.”
The Heat’s next chance is Monday night at the Knicks.
“It’s not like the season’s over,” said forward Kyle Anderson, who had 13 points and 5 assists off the bench. “Including myself, I don’t think we displayed [competitive spirit] tonight. Shame on us. We’ve addressed it as a team. We will figure it out the next game on Monday.”
▪ Spoelstra unveiled his 21st different starting lineup and then made a halftime change for the second time in three games. It ultimately made no difference.
One night after removing Ware from the starting lineup for the first time since Jan. 21, Spoelstra reinserted his rookie center in the starting group and moved Jaime Jaquez Jr. back to the bench.
Ware played generally well, outscoring fellow rookie center Zach Edey, 19 to 12 and outrebounding him 11-8.
“We cool; there was no bad blood,” Ware said of Edey.
But Ware said “if we had kept [the ball] moving... and defend more on the inside, it would have been a different outcome.”
Spoelstra stuck with Robinson with the starting group for the second night in a row and brought Davion Mitchell off the bench for the second consecutive game.
Robinson and Ware joined Adebayo, Wiggins and Herro in Miami’s starting group, and that quintet was outscored 15-11 to open the game.
And after Robinson went scoreless in the first half on 0 for 3 shooting, Spoelstra replaced him with Mitchell to start the second half.
That Herro/Adebayo/Mitchell/Wiggins/Ware quintet shaved only one point off the Heat’s 15-point halftime deficit in their 7:01 together to start the third quarter. The Heat collapsed from there.
▪ Adebayo had a more aggressive bent offensively after two quiet games and found his groove in the third quarter.
Adebayo attempted just seven shots in losses to both the Clippers and Boston, finishing with 6 and 9 points in those games after scoring in double figures in his previous 22 games.
That triggered a Friday night debate on the league-owned television network, as former NBA players Brendan Haywood and John Wall implored Adebayo to look for his shot every night in the post Jimmy Butler era.
On Saturday, Adebayo opened 2 for 6 but then found his rhythm, scoring 12 points in the third quarter after a six-point first half.
He sat out the fourth quarter and closed with 18 points (7 for 15 shooting) and six rebounds, but also three turnovers, in 30 minutes.
On the defensive end, Adebayo struggled to contain Jaren Jackson Jr., who scored 10 first quarter points directly against Adebayo. Jackson scored 21 in the first half and finished with 31. Desmond Bane added 22.
▪ Jaquez continued something of a mini revival, while Terry Rozier continued his nightmarish season.
After playing no more than 14 minutes in 12 consecutive games (including five games without an appearance), Jaquez logged 26 minutes, a night after playing 30 against Boston.
And Jaquez again played efficiently and with energy early on, scoring six points in a row in the second quarter and finishing the night with 13 points, five rebounds and three assists.
He also made the hustle play of the game, jumping over the baseline to knock a ball off Jackson’s legs in the first half, allowing the Heat to keep possession.
But Jaquez was on the floor when the Heat fell apart in the third quarter.
Jaquez’s strong first half came a night after he scored 13 points on 5 for 10 shooting against Boston.
Meanwhile, Rozier had another inefficient night, shooting 2 for 9 with five points in 25 minutes off the bench. Rozier wasn’t used on Friday against Boston - the third time in 11 games that he was healthy scratch.
▪ The Heat remained ninth in the Eastern Conference.
Miami (29-38) stayed one game ahead of No. 10 Chicago (28-39), which lost in Houston on Saturday. The ninth and 10th seeds will meet in the play-in tournament, with the winner of that game advancing to play the loser of the 7-8 play-in matchup for the right to play No. 1 seed Cleveland in the first round of the playoffs.
Chicago has clinched the tiebreaker with Miami.
Miami fell three games behind No. 7 Atlanta (32-35). The Heat is 1 ½ games behind Orlando (31-37).
“Once we get over that hump, we’re going to be right there,” Wiggins said. “There are still good spirits, good vibes.”
This story was originally published March 15, 2025 at 10:14 PM.
