MIAMI _ Eric Spoelstra offered no pretense during his pregame media session.
"It's time."
He paused, offered nothing more until prodded.
"It's absolutely time right now," he finally continued. "Our guys understand that it starts tonight."
That was the hope and it continues to remain the hope, with the Miami Heat opening their five-game homestand with a 115-89 victory Saturday night over the Memphis Grizzlies at AmericanAirlines Arena.
In the wake of losing eight of their previous nine, including a crushing overtime loss a night earlier on the road to the New Orleans Pelicans, this was about far more than a February victory over a could-care-less opponent.
This was, after 17 consecutive games decided by single digits, the moment that the Heat coach appreciated was time to make a stand.
So the Heat did, finally able to exhale, as the Grizzlies sat just about every player on their roster with any semblance of name recognition.
Already lacking sidelined Mike Conley, Chandler Parsons, Tyreke Evans and Wayne Selden, the Grizzlies also decided to give center Marc Gasol the night off. It's what teams do when they're racing to the bottom, with the upcoming NBA draft particularly attractive at the top.
For the Heat, it was about creating a bit more breathing room in the Eastern Conference playoff race, now two games ahead of the No. 9 seed Detroit Pistons in the Eastern Conference playoff race, with 22 to play.
The Heat were sparked by a season-high 17 points from forward Justise Winslow, with guard Tyler Johnson scoring 23, center Hassan Whiteside adding 12 points and eight rebounds and guard Goran Dragic contributing eight assists.
The work essentially came against the Grizzlies G League affiliate, with Memphis going with a starting lineup of Andrew Harrison, JaMychal Green, Deyonte Davis, Dillon Brooks and Jarell Martin.
The competition level will be decidedly more pronounced the next time out, when the Heat continue the homestand Tuesday against the Philadelphia 76ers.
The Heat were without big man Kelly Olynyk for a sixth consecutive game with a strained left shoulder. He had been upgraded earlier in the day from doubtful to questionable, before Spoelstra confirmed 90 minutes prior to tipoff that Olynyk would be out again.
That again had the Heat opening with Whiteside at center, Winslow at power forward, Josh Richardson at small forward, Tyler Johnson at shooting guard and Dragic at point guard.
The Heat seized control by outscoring the Grizzlies 32-18 in the third period, with Whiteside and Tyler Johnson each scoring nine in the quarter.
The Heat moved to an 11-point lead in the second period and went into halftime up 60-52. Winslow already was up to 13 points by that stage, more than he had scored in the previous four games combined.
The Heat struggled defensively at the outset, allowing the Grizzlies to shoot .591 in the opening period. But with Tyler Johnson scoring 11 in the quarter, the Heat still were able to take a 34-31 lead in the second period.
Dwyane Wade again entered off the bench in a unit that featured Bam Adebayo and James Johnson.
The game concluded the two-game season series. The Heat won the first meeting 107-82 Dec. 11 in Memphis, when seven players scored in double figures, led by Dragic's 19 points, limiting the Grizzlies to .389 shooting. The Heat were without Whiteside in the victory.
The Heat were seeking their first sweep of the two-game season series since 2006-07.
The Heat entered having lost two of the previous three meetings at AmericanAirlines Arena, including 110-107 last season.
The game was the Heat's first at home since Feb. 9, entering just 14-12 at home, including 3-7 against the Western Conference.
The game concluded the Heat's 11th back-to-back set of the season, coming off Friday's overtime loss in New Orleans, with a 4-6 record on the second nights of such sets entering the game.
The Grizzlies also were completing a back-to-back set, coming off Friday's home loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers. Memphis entered 3-8 on the second nights of back-to-back games.
