Grizzlies at Heat
The Miami Heat look to build off a huge victory on the road when they host the Memphis Grizzlies in the second of a back-to-back between the teams on Saturday night. The injury-depleted Heat found a way to earn a 90-81 victory in Memphis on Friday as reserve Tyler Johnson posted a season-high matching 22 points, and coach Erik Spoelstra told reporters, “Our disposition was much better.”
Miami, which was without second-leading scorer Goran Dragic (elbow) and guard Justise Winslow (wrist) Friday, won for the third time in five contests after a demoralizing six-game losing streak. The Grizzlies saw their six-game winning streak come to an end while shooting 35.4 percent from the field and missing 15 of their attempts from 3-point range against the Heat. Memphis will be without third-leading scorer Zach Randolph (14.2), who was granted an indefinite leave by the Grizzlies on Friday after the death of his mother. Leading scorer Mike Conley did not start on Friday, but came off the bench to score 16 points as Memphis monitors his minutes during back-to-backs.
TV: 8 p.m. ET, FSN Southeast (Memphis), FSN Sun (Miami)
ABOUT THE GRIZZLIES (10-6): Memphis started Tory Daniels and Andrew Harrison in the backcourt Friday and the duo combined to shoot 1-for-13 from the field for seven points in 54 minutes. JaMychal Green was the only starter to score in double figures (14) as center Marc Gasol struggled with nine points, one rebound and two assists in 26 minutes. Forward Jarell Martin, in his second season in the NBA, hauled in a career-best 12 rebounds against the Heat on Friday while adding six points and a block off the bench.
ABOUT THE HEAT (5-10): Miami C Hassan Whiteside managed just four points on 1-of-6 shooting and grabbed 12 rebounds in the win Friday, but Spoelstra told reporters he was as important as anyone. “Hassan really set the tone,” Spoelstra said. “His box score does not really tell the story of his impact on the game. … He even had some great words right before we went out there for the team to follow his lead and the guys did that particularly on the defensive end.” Forward Udonis Haslem scored four of his five points on the season Friday.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Memphis has won five straight road contests and goes for its first six-game winning streak away from home since January of 2014.
2. Whiteside registered two blocks Friday and has at least one in 44 consecutive games.
3. The Heat’s win Friday was just their second in the last six meetings with the Grizzlies, but they are 13-7 all time versus Memphis at home.