MIAMI — The last time an opponent arrived to Kaseya Center looking to lose, the Miami Heat denied them that privilege.
In that regard, consider Saturday night’s 136-120 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies a lesson learned.
Prioritizing improving their odds for the draft lottery, just as the Utah Jazz did in the Heat’s precious home game, the Grizzlies, stopped short of making the mistake of winning.
So even with the Heat’s defense shaky for much of the night, Erik Spoelstra’s team got the victory it needed, the Grizzlies got the loss they wanted, and the Heat’s Andrew Wiggins and Norman Powell got to feast on a buffet of high-percentage shots, with Wiggins scoring 28 and Powell 25.
Factor in 14 points, six assists and five rebounds from Tyler Herro in his second game back from a month off with a rib injury, and it hardly mattered that Bam Adebayo was limited to 13 points. The Heat also got 11 points and 15 rebounds from backup center Kel’el Ware.
The last time the Heat played at home, they lost to a Jazz team so set on tanking that Utah was fined $500,000 by the NBA even though they beat the Heat that night.
This time, the team trying to win won, and the team needing to lose lost.
About the only true emotion both ways on the night came in a late dustup between Heat guard Myron Gardner and the Grizzlies’ Scotty Pippen Jr., with both ejected with 1:55 to play.
Five Degrees of Heat from Saturday night’s game:
— 1. Game flow: The Heat led 39-33 after the first period and 73-68 at halftime, after going up 10 late in the second period.
Then, as so often is the case with tanking teams, the Grizzlies took their foot off the gas, with the Heat moving to a 20-point lead early in the third before standing ahead 112-94 at the start of the fourth.
But with the Grizzlies trimming the deficit, Spoelstra in the fourth quarter was forced to go back to Powell, Wiggins and Adebayo, before finally being able to pull his starters with 2:29 to play.
— 2. And another one: The Heat for the 10th consecutive game changed their starting lineup from the previous game, this time forced into a move with Davion Mitchell out due to illness.
That had rookie Kasparas Jakucionis with his ninth start of the season, opening in a lineup with Adebayo, Wiggins, Powell and Pelle Larsson.
“Kas just continues to get better,” Spoelstra said. “If you watch where he was in summer league compared to now, that’s really a credit to his work ethic.”
— 3. Herro in reserve: That, in turn, had Tyler Herro off the bench for the second time in as many games back after missing 15 with a rib issue.
Herro played as the Heat’s third reserve, entering midway through the opening period and closing the quarter 3 of 3 from the field and 2 of 2 from line the, with two assists.
It again largely was a case of either Herro or Powell on the court, yet to be reestablished as a tandem. The two, though, did close the second period together, when the Heat moved to their largest lead to that stage.
Herro did struggle with his shooting, closing 5 of 15 from the field.
— 4. Powell sizzle: No, it was not the best of starts for Powell, who was fouled on his initial 3-point shot and proceeded to miss all free throws.
Powell, who, like Mitchell, has been battling an illness, then came around with almost flawless offensive play, taking advantage of open driving lanes offered by the Grizzlies’ defense.
Powell closed 10 of 16 from the field, but just 2 of 7 from the line.
— 5. Wiggins boost: With Herro and Powell in place to handle the leading offensive roles, Wiggins has shown considerable comfort as a complementary scorer, up to 19 points by intermission in this one.
Wiggins closed 9 of 10 from the field, including 4 of 4 on 3-pointers, as well as 6 of 6 from the line. His 21st point gave him 15,000 for his career.