Grizzlies Douse Heat in Miami

After a disappointing 81-90 loss against Miami at the Grindhouse Friday night, the Beale Street Bears set out to even the season series at AmericanAirlines Arena. Grizzlies stand at 4^th in Defensive Efficiency while Miami stands at 5^th, so a defensive battle was expected. Despite being without key players Zach Randolph, James Ennis, Chandler Parsons, and Brandan Wright the Grizz were able to pull out the victory in Miami. The Grizzlies stand pat at 4^th in the West while Miami sits at 13^th in the East.

 

Stats Breakdown:

Final: Grizzlies 110, Heat 107

Field Goal %: Grizzlies 50.7 (37-73), Heat 49.4 (40-81)

3-point %: Grizzlies 36 (9-25), Heat 38.7 (12-31 – Waiters 4)

Free Throw %: Grizzlies 81.8 (27-33), Heat 66.7 (16-24)

Rebounds: Grizzlies 34 (2 Offensive), Heat 39 (8 Offensive – Whiteside 12)

Turnovers: Grizzlies 6, Heat 9

Paint Points: Grizzlies 30, Heat 34

Bench Points: Grizzlies 46, Heat 36

Fast Break Points: Grizzlies 6 (2-2), Heat 6 (2-3)

Assists: Grizzlies 23 (Conley 7), Heat 18

Steals: Grizzlies 5 (Martin 2), Heat 3

Blocks: Grizzlies 5, Heat 6 (Whiteside 2)

 

Game Notes:

*All 5 starters for both teams scored in double digits.

 Grizzlies:

*Marc Gasol led the Grizzlies with a season-high 28 points on 11-16 shooting, was 2-4 from beyond the arc, and was perfect from the charity stripe.

Gasol scored 19 of his 28 in the first half. He outplayed Whiteside for the 2^nd night in a row, causing the former Grizz to be unable to work in the paint for a majority of the game. After Gasol sank 2 shots from beyond the arc over Whiteside, Miami tried to adjust by putting him on JaMychal Green, who punished him with 3 treys. Heat Coach Spoelstra had this to say about the difficulty of guarding Gasol: “That shows you what a great player (Gasol) can do. He adjusted and adapted (from last night). He was doing it from all over the court tonight.”

Peep the comments Whiteside had about Gasol after Friday’s Miami victory.

Young Whiteside, it’s probably not a great idea to poke the Wendigo.

*Mike Conley started the game slow but soon warmed up, ending with 21 points (6-13), was 2-4 from 3, perfect from the stripe, and had 7 assists. Heat Coach Eric Spoelstra had this to say about Conley’s performance:

*Troy Williams drew the start for the Grizz and had his regular season-high with 18 points (6-12), 3 boards, and 2 assists. The hustle is real with that one.

*JaMychal Green ended with 12 points (4-6), was 3-4 from the 3 point line and had 7 boards. Green continues to play physical and collect more fouls than we would like (3 in this game) but the fact that he was able to hang 3 shots from beyond the arc on Whiteside made up for it.

*Tony Allen bounced back from his 4 point, -19 performance on Friday night with 11 points, 8 rebounds, and 2 steals.

*Every player who took the floor for the Grizz scored.

*After a disappointing night on Friday against the Heat in terms of +/- where 5 players were in the negative column, tonight was a much better outing. Only 2 players had a negative on the floor tonight, but those two definitely made up for that with hustle, defense, and scoring.

*The Grizz have played 4 games this season on back to back nights (Wizards, Pelicans, Timberwolves, and Heat). They have 12 more back to backs this season (Magic, 76ers, Cavs, Pistons, Celtics, Clippers, Rockets, Jazz, Timberwolves, Hawks, Kings, and Thunder).

*So how about the dynamic duo of Conley/Gasol?

*In Friday’s contest against Miami the Grizz had 18 turnovers and allowed Miami to score 23 points off of those. On Saturday, they emphasized protecting the ball and cut it to 6 turnovers and only allowed Miami to get 5 points off those. In contrast, Memphis scored 15 points off of 10 Miami turnovers.

*2^nd Chance Points – On Friday in Memphis, both teams had 15 2^nd chance points. On Saturday in Miami, the Grizz allowed Miami to again get 15 while the Grizz only converted 4. Memphis must clean that up.

*The Grizzlies improved to 8-3 in clutch situations with this victory.

None is more clutch than our own Captain Clutch.

Miami:

*Miami had 7 players score in double digits.

*Dion Waiters was the Heat’s top scorer with 28 points, a season-high for the former Thunder guard.

*Hassan Whiteside improved on his 4 point performance from Friday with a 15 point, 12 rebound outing.

*Josh Richardson had 15, Derrick Williams had 13, and Tyler Johnson came off the bench with 12 for Miami. Also scoring in double digits for Miami were Rodney McGruder and James Johnson.

*Tyler Johnson torched the Grizz for 22 off the bench on Friday night. On Saturday, the Grizz were more prepared and held him to 12.

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