The Miami HEAT defeated the Memphis Grizzlies 91-86 Friday night at AmericanAirlines Arena. Ray Allen led the way for the HEAT with 18 points, four rebounds and four assists.
Impact Performance of the Night: Ray Allen has had a very effective March and he continued that on Friday night. Allen finished the game 7-of-14 shooting, including 2 for 5 from three, for 18 points. When the HEAT were off to a slow start in the beginning of the game, Allen kept Miami in it in more ways than one. He had some nice drives and made some smart veteran moves against a tough defensive Grizzlies team.
Dwyane Wade and LeBron James had relatively quiet starts to the game, but both picked it up in the fourth quarter. Wade scored eight of his 14 in the fourth quarter, including some nice jumpers to carry over the HEAT’s momentum from the third quarter. He also made some great defensive plays collapsing on Zach Randolph.
James, meanwhile, had some very strong drives to the bucket down the stretch and played defense on both Randolph and Mike Conley. He scored seven of his 15 in the fourth, which included the play of the game. More on that later.
The Deciding Run: The HEAT closed the game on a 14-2 run that left the Grizzlies rather frustrated. Miami picked up its defense and made things difficult for Zach Randolph inside during that stretch. Randolph did have a nice game, scoring 25 points and grabbing 14 rebounds, but was pretty ineffective when it mattered most.
Just before that run, Miami closed the third quarter on a 14-4 run thanks to Mario Chalmers and Chris Andersen. Both were instrumental at the time and brought the crowd back to life with their frenetic play.
Play of the Game: With the HEAT up just two and the shot clock winding down, the ball was in LeBron James’ hands to make a play. James made his move from the three-point line, dribbled in and hit the mid-range, pull up jumper over Courtney Lee to go up 88-84 with 24.8 seconds to go. It was part of the huge run the HEAT went on in the fourth quarter that essentially sealed Memphis’ fate.
Right after that, Dwyane Wade threw an incredible, one-handed inbounds pass to Ray Allen who got behind the defense and finished the jam to go up 90-86.
Efficiency Rating: Offensive Efficiency: 104.5; Defensive Efficiency: 97.2
Trend to Watch: As they have the past few games, the HEAT's role players stepped up big again on Friday night. Chris Andersen did a lot of great things that will not show up on the box score. He kept a lot of possessions alive with his aggression on the boards and played well in crunch time. Andersen finished with five points and four rebounds. Mario Chalmers found the range and scored 14 points on 4-of-7 shooting. Greg Oden did a great job on Randolph at the start of the third quarter and held his own against a very tough duo of big men. He had five points and two rebounds.
The Takeaway: The HEAT found a way to come out with a gutsy win in the fourth quarter. Miami played stifling defense and both Wade and James saved their best for the last quarter of play. It was great to see the HEAT’s role players get in a rhythm early and keep the HEAT alive. The Grizzlies boast perhaps the best duo of big men in the game and this game certainly had a playoff feel to it with it being a low-scoring, defensive affair. This is a great win for the HEAT to prepare themselves for what lies ahead.
Notes: Marc Gasol appeared to injure his ankle in the third quarter and went back to the locker room.
Game Highlights: