Heat Drop Seventh Straight in Loss vs. Grizzlies
In the year's first meeting, the Heat drops their seventh straight loss to the Grizzlies 125-91. This loss keeps Miami with the second longest active losing streak in the league, only behind Utah, who has eight. This game was crucial for Miami, as is every game at this point in the season, with them creeping even closer to the outside of the Play-In Tournament. The win for Memphis is a bounce-back win for them coming off a 133-124 loss to the Cavaliers that snapped the team's four-game winning streak.
Miami’s big men led the way on their side of the ball, with Kel’el Ware posting a double-double of 19 points and 11 rebounds, while Bam Adebayo posted 18 points and six rebounds. No other starter reached double figures for Miami, as the only other players who had double figures were Jaime Jaquez Jr and Kyle Anderson with 13 points each off the bench. On the other hand, Memphis had four of five starters reach double figures, with Jaren Jackson Jr leading the way with 31 points and six rebounds. Desmond Bane was close behind him with 22 points, 10 rebounds, and eight assists while having the highest +/- in the game at +32 in only 30 minutes.
Memphis controlled the game in every aspect from start to finish, never trailing and even ending the game with their largest lead of 34. Miami was in range for a comeback coming out of halftime down 15 and keeping it that way till about the last three and a half minutes of the third quarter when Memphis went on a 16-two run to end the quarter, pushing the lead to 27. After that, Miami just looked defeated, and you could tell it wasn't looking good. Even when Heat coach Erik Spoelstra would call timeouts during runs to try and cool Memphis, it didn't work. They will meet again on April 3rd, but in the meantime, Miami needs to grab as many wins as possible. They will be facing a tough Eastern Conference foe, the Knicks in New York on Monday. Memphis's next game will be in Sacramento on Monday to face the Kings. They’re in a situation where they need to keep winning to maintain themselves in that top six of the Western Conference.
