After a fourth straight win, the Miami Heat will conclude their preseason with an outstanding comeback-from-behind victory against the Memphis Grizzlies, 114-109. Miami finished in a three-way tie with the New York Knicks and Boston Celtics for the top seed in the Eastern Conference heading into the 2024-25 season.
This was a resounding win from the impressive Heat young core. Eight veteran players, including the likes of Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo, got the night off. However, it opened playing time for a lot of the team’s development pieces. Josh Christopher, the summer league MVP led the team in scoring with 17 points off the bench in 22 minutes.
#HEATWin final – Miami 114, Memphis 109
🔥 Christopher: 17pts, 4ast, 4stl
🔥 Ware: 16pts, 7reb, 2stl, 2blk
🔥 Little: 15pts, 4reb, 4 3PM
🔥 Larsson: 14pts, 5reb, 4ast, 2stl
🔥 Jović: 11pts, 4ast
🔥 Smith: 10pts, 4reb
🔥 Highsmith: 10pts, 3reb, 3 3PM pic.twitter.com/426Po2MZAT— Miami HEAT (@MiamiHEAT) October 19, 2024
He shot 6/11 from the floor and 2/4 from 3-point range. Kel’el Ware also headlined with 16 points and 7 rebounds to go along with a pair of blocks and steals. There was some high two-way activity from the new big man.
Seven players finished in double figures, and the offense ignited a late rally. The Heat outscored the Grizzlies 29-18 in the fourth quarter. It was an encouraging way to continue momentum into the season, while giving more experience to the young guys looking to standout.
The summer league players in Ware, Christopher, Pelle Larsson, Keshad Johnson and Zyon Pullin looked impactful in each of their stints.
Miami shot 46% as a team and 44% on 3-pointers, compared to the Grizzlies 48% and 38%. The Heat also won the turnover battle, with a 17-23 advantage. Despite standout performances from the Memphis duo of Ja Morant and Desmond Bane, Miami stayed in striking distance the whole way until finally going on clutch run. Morant finished with 17 points, 8 rebounds and 6 assists. Bane led all scorers with 19 points.
A lot of players played good, the warehouse outplayed edey, Christopher was good on both offense and defense. Little looks like decent 3 and d player. Dru Smith solidified his 2 way contract, Pelle struggled shooting early on, but didn’t let that phase his overall game, and looks like the best 2nd round pick we had since jrich.
Good showing with Heat young guns. Regular season here we go! Btw…warriors trashed lakeshow by 50+