MIAMI _ Erik Spoelstra offered a season forecast to his players earlier in the day, warning them, "There are going to be a lot of highs, a lot of lows, and everything in between."
He was talking about the Miami Heat's 2019-20 season.
He might as well have been talking about Wednesday night's season-opening 120-101 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies.
There was the high of the opening-night buzz at AmericanAirlines Arena.
The low of having to play without leading man Jimmy Butler.
And in between, well, just about everything from a roster shortchanged by the absences of Dion Waiters and James Johnson, including inspiring fourth-quarter effort plays from two-way player Chris Silva, the undrafted forward out of South Carolina.
With Butler out for personal reasons, Justise Winslow stepped in as a leading man in the starting lineup, closing with 27 points, seven assists and seven rebounds, with Goran Dragic thriving in his new bench role, with 19 points.
But this also was about Bam Adebayo energizing with a 14-point, 11-rebound double-double, and rookies Tyler Herro and Kendrick Nunn not wilting under the NBA glare, with Nunn closing with 24 points a game after he scored 40 in an exhibition against the Houston Rockets and Herro 14.
And, so, after a dreary 19-22 home record last season, there is the clean sheet of 1-0 at 601 Biscayne.
The Heat went into the fourth quarter down 84-83, having gone 1-17 at home last season when trailing after three periods, but seized control from there, with a 23-4 run.
Jaren Jackson Jr. led the Grizzlies with 17 points. Point guard Ja Morant had 14 points, four assists, four rebounds and six turnovers in his NBA debut.
