Five takeaways from the Miami Heat’s 89-85 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies (18-19) on Wednesday night at FedExForum:
-- The Heat (22-19) clawed back from a late-game deficit, but it just didn’t have enough to end its long week with a win.
Wednesday was the second night of a back-to-back set for the Heat. It also marked Miami’s fifth game in seven nights.
The Heat found itself trailing by seven points with 3:39 to play, but Miami responded by scoring seven straight points to tie the game with 1:12 left.
After the teams traded free throws to keep the score tied with less than a minute to play, Grizzlies had possession with 8.9 seconds left with no timeouts.
Memphis star guard Ja Morant then drove the length of the court and past the Heat’s defense for a game-winning layup with 1.2 seconds remaining to end the Miami’s hopes of a comeback win.
The Heat then committed a turnover on a Bam Adebayo inbound pass with 0.6 seconds and had to intentionally foul Memphis’ Kyle Anderson, who made two free throws to seal the win.
Miami’s offense struggled in the loss, scoring just 85 points on 36 percent shooting from the field and 8-of-34 (23.5 percent) shooting on threes.
The loss snapped the Heat’s five-game winning steak and six-game road winning streak. Miami has still won 15 of its past 20 games after a 7-14 start to the season.
-- Jimmy Butler was questionable because of a sprained left ankle, but he played through the pain on the second night of a back-to-back.
Butler finished with 24 points on 10-of-20 shooting, seven rebounds and two assists..
Butler, who has missed 14 games this season, turned his ankle on a drive to the basket late in Tuesday’s home win against the Cleveland Cavaliers. He was fouled on a drive into the paint with 3:26 left and came away from the play with a slight limp.
Butler remained in the game, traveled with the Heat to Memphis and ended up playing 36 minutes Wednesday night.
The best stretch of the night for Butler came when he scored 10 points in the first seven minutes of the third quarter. But he scored only four points in the fourth quarter.
-- The Heat used its depth in its fifth game in seven nights, and veteran forward Trevor Ariza is on his way add to that depth.
With Andre Iguodala out because of left hip soreness, rookie center Precious Achiuwa was back in the Heat’s rotation. Even two-way contract wing Max Strus got in.
Achiuwa’s playing time has dwindled recently and he received hissecond DNP-CD (did not play, coach’s decision) of the season in Tuesday’s win over the Cleveland Cavaliers.
But with Iguodala missing his first game because of a hip injury, Achiuwa was the first power rotation player off the Heat’s bench in Memphis.
Achiuwa finished with two points and five rebounds in 11 minutes.
Achiuwa logged double-digit minutes in each of the Heat’s first 22 games, but he has only played double-digit minutes in nine of the 19 games since then.
“That’s part of being a professional,” Achiuwa said before Wednesday’s contest of his evolving role. “It’s not college. Nobody has time to worry about how you feel and all that kind of stuff. You just have to stay ready.”
The rest of the Heat’s bench rotation included Goran Dragic, Tyler Herro, KZ Okpala and Strus.
Strus finished with seven points on 3-of-4 shooting in eight minutes. It marked Strus’ first game minutes since a March 2 loss to the Atlanta Hawks and just the second game he played in over the past 10 games.
Along with Iguodala, the Heat was also without guard Avery Bradley (right calf strain), and forward Moe Harkless (illness) on Wednesday.
Earlier in the day, the Heat finalized a trade Wednesday with the Oklahoma City Thunder to acquire Ariza in exchange for Meyers Leonard and a 2027 second-round pick. Ariza has been participating in the NBA’s COVID-19 testing protocols in advance of the trade, and the hope is he’ll be available to make his Heat debut in either Friday night’s game against the Indiana Pacers or Sunday afternoon’s game against the Pacers at AmericanAirlines Arena.
-- It has been a little more than a year since the Heat traded Justise Winslow to the Grizzles. But Wednesday marked Winslow’s first game against his former team since the move was made in February 2020.
Winslow, who was drafted by the Heat with the 10th overall pick in 2015, spent the first four-plus seasons of his NBA career with Miami. A back injury and then a hip displacement injury kept Winslow out for 13 months before he made his Grizzlies debut on Feb. 20.
In just his 10th game this season and in his Grizzlies career, Winslow finished with five points on 2-of-8 shooting and three rebounds in 18 minutes off the bench.
Winslow exchanged hugs and pleasantries with former Heat teammates like Udonis Haslem and Goran Dragic on the court before the game.
In an interview with Grind City Media, the Grizzlies’ in-house media outlet, Winslow said he was “excited” to face his former team “mostly just to see those faces.”
“With my injuries and my journey, I’ve been able to overcome some of that animosity, some of that resentment or tough feelings you have after getting traded,” Winslow said. “It’s nothing like that with me and the Heat. I’m not trying to prove anything. This injury is going to take time to come back from. I’m still on a minutes restriction. So even if I wanted to have 50 points, it would be hard to do it in 20 to 25 minutes. My head is in a good place, honestly. More than anything, I want to see those faces, just to tell them, ‘Thank you.’ Because I wouldn’t be here without their guidance and support. It’s no hard feelings, just a lot of gratitude from me.”
-- Heat coach Erik Spoelstra reached an impressive coaching milestone.
Tuesday marked Spoelstra’s 1,000th career regular-season game as the Heat’s head coach. He became the third coach in NBA history to coach 1,000 or more regular-season games with only one franchise for their entire career, joining Gregg Popovich (Spurs) and Alvin Attles (Warriors).
“I’m extremely humbled by that,” Spoelstra said of reaching that 1,000 game mark. “I’m really grateful for the people I work for. I think it speaks more to the stability of our organization and the leadership of Micky [Arison] and Pat [Riley]. They believe in stability, they believe in continuity and allowing people in the organization to grow and understand that it’s not always going to be perfect.
“A lot of coaches don’t get that opportunity because they’re gone and then they have to start over somewhere else. So I’m just extremely appreciative of this opportunity. Every day I want to do my damn best for Pat and Micky and this organization and these players.”
Spoelstra has also recorded 674 career wins — 589 in the regular season and 85 in the playoffs. That’s the fifth-most by a head coach with a single franchise in NBA history, behind Phil Jackson (Lakers), Red Auerbach (Celtics), Jerry Sloan (Jazz) and Popovich.
Spoelstra, 50 and already in his 13th season at the helm, is already the winningest head coach in Heat history both in the regular season and playoffs.
