The Memphis Grizzlies downed the Miami Heat 141-125 inside Kaseya Center Friday night to cap off the 2025-26 preseason.
The Miami Heat went winless in six preseason games, the first time that has happened since 2007-08, when the franchise won 15 games and earned the No. 2 overall pick (which turned into Michael Beasley).
Preseason results are largely meaningless, but the Heat’s defense left plenty to be desired.
The Grizzlies shot 52.9 percent from the floor and 51.3 percent from 3-point range, canning 20 threes. Jaylen Wells led the way with 21 points on 7-of-10 shooting (3-5 3PT), with Javon Small adding 16 points and five assists in 21 minutes. Jaren Jackson Jr. had 16 points; GG Jackson had 13 points on 5-of-6 shooting (all in the final quarter).
The Heat kept it competitive through three quarters, but once both teams’ end-of-bench subs entered the fold, Memphis took advantage.
The bright side was they got their best preseason performances from Bam Adebayo and Norman Powell, who scored 23 points apiece.
Adebayo added eight rebounds, four assists, two steals and one block in 26 minutes, knocking down nine of his 17 field goal attempts. Powell shot 8-of-13 from the floor and 3-of-6 from distance, leading the team in assists with six.
It was an uninspiring performance from the Heat defensively — and their bench didn’t provide much of a boost throughout the night. Pelle Larsson and Simone Fontecchio had moments, but it wasn’t enough in the end.
We won’t see the Heat on the court again until opening night on Wednesday, Oct. 22, at 7:00 p.m. EST against the Orlando Magic.
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In reviewing the box scores for the last two preseason games against Atlanta and Memphis, it appears Miami was beaten by teams which were missing several starters and rotation players (e.g. Morant, Young and others).
How Miami does against the Magic, Grizzlies, Knicks, Spurs, Lakers, Clippers and Nuggets in the first couple of weeks of the season should tell us a lot about this year’s team. The schedule for the next month after that doesn’t get any easier.
It may be a wake up call for Arison and Riley that without immediate upgrades, this dog won’t hunt. If they are unwilling to address that issue, they will be passively accepting another mediocre (play-in) season, or worse. If that is the case, I believe the only rational option is to have a fire sale before the trade deadline and begin a rebuilding process.
141 points received. Thats a disaster.
If this is the way to play, we better trade for Dunc, because he and a random chair in the Kaseya center can defend better then “elite” defenders Bam, Ware, Powell, Mitchell, Wiggins and the rest of wannabe two way players in the team.
I refuse to watch that kind of basketball and I refuse to watch players playing that type of basketball. Another performance like that and I ll quit watching Heat games. I m mad.