MIAMI _ For a week, as his team traveled from Washington to Philadelphia to Detroit to Memphis, Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra stressed how difficult it is to win on the road in the NBA.
Then his team returned home Saturday night and the struggles continued at AmericanAirlines Arena, this time a 110-107 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies that dropped the Heat to 2-6 at home this season.
A night after making a road statement with a 90-81 victory in Memphis, the Heat found themselves against the Grizzlies team playing for keeps, removing the minutes restriction that had been placed on center Marc Gasol and point guard Mike Conley the night before.
A night after making a defensive statement with five blocked shots, the most against the Heat this season, Gasol this time went on the offensive, closing with 28 points, outplaying Heat center Hassan Whiteside, who finished with 15. Conley added 21 points, seven assists and a key 3-point play and pair of 3-pointers late for Memphis.
Beyond the 28 points of Heat guard Dion Waiters there was little of offensive consistency for the Heat, although Whiteside did close with a double-double, grabbing 12 rebounds.
It left the Heat with only an overtime victory over the Sacramento Kings and a victory over the middling Milwaukee Bucks at home this season, compared to a 3-5 road record.
Even in the absence of ailing Chandler Parson and grieving Zach Randolph, whose mother died Thursday, the Grizzlies had enough to bounce back from their Friday home loss to the Heat.
A 7-0 run put the Grizzlies up 89-87 with 8:10 to play, a stage when the Heat were playing with Josh McRoberts and Luke Babbitt as their power rotation. Whiteside then returned at that stage, with only three fouls after playing in early foul trouble. By then, Whiteside had recorded the 100th double-figure-scoring game of his career.
From there, 3-pointers from Troy Williams and JaMychal Green moved Memphis to a 95-91 lead.
The Heat later closed within 99-98 on a pair of Josh Richardson free throws, but Conley followed with a 3-pointer with 3:06 left for a 102-98 Grizzlies lead.
Whiteside countered with a short hook to draw the Heat within 102-100 with 2:45 to play, with each team following up with a turnover.
That's when Whiteside's fourth foul was part of a 3-point play by Conley that gave Memphis a 105-100 lead with two minutes to play. Later, a Conley 3-pointer pushed Memphis' lead to 108-101, as the Heat frittered opportunities at the foul line.
Finally, with 50 seconds to play, Waiters buried a 3-pointer to bring the Heat within in 108-105.
With Vince Carter then off with a 3-pointer, the Heat got a driving layup from Waiters with 11.4 seconds to play to trim the Heat deficit to 108-107.
That's when the Heat sent Conley to the line with 11.4 seconds left, with the Grizzlies guard converting both for a 110-107 Memphis lead.
A scramble and a missed Richardson 3-point attempt followed as time expired.
With Tyler Johnson sparking the Heat with a pair of jumpers late in the third period, the Heat went into the fourth quarter in an 82-82 tie, the Heat closing the third on an 8-2 run.
Gasol was up to 26 points by that stage, with Waiters the Heat's leading scoring to that point with 17 points.
After leading for most of the first half, the Heat went into the intermission down 51-49, with Gasol up to 19 points by that juncture, a stage when no Heat player had more than Waiters' nine points.
Whiteside, by comparison, had eight points and three rebounds at the intermission.
While Gasol has the biggest impact in the opening period with 12 points, the Heat were able to take a 31-24 lead into the second period sparked by a pair of Richardson 3-pointers.
Foul trouble again became an early issue for Whiteside, forced out with his second foul with 4:07 to play in the opening period, with Gasol drawing both.
Spoelstra was irate as he substituted McRoberts for Whiteside, to the point that referee Tom Washington issued a warning about not furthering the argument.
As he came off, Whiteside then barked to Washington about Gasol, "He's flopping every time. How come you don't see that?"
The game completed just the second back-to-back set of the season for the Heat, with the Heat winning 90-81 at FedExForum
The Heat again were without Goran Dragic, Justise Winslow, Willie Reed and Wayne Ellington due to injury.
The Heat complete their brief two-game homestand Monday against the Boston Celtics, before heading out on a three-game western swing against the Denver Nuggets, Utah Jazz and Portland Trail Blazers, part of an ongoing run of 10 of 13 on the road.
