Our Heat season companion part 12 covers the Heat blowing out the Grizzlies in Miami 138-119. This was a comfortable win, which has been rare for the Heat this season. The Heat’s bench played well in this game, too. Let’s get into all of it.

Heat Season Companion Part 12: The Heat Only Committed 13 Turnovers

One of the factors that have been present in many of the Heat’s losses this season is an excessive number of turnovers. This cost them in one of their recent games against the Cleveland Cavaliers. However, in this game against the Grizzlies, the Heat only committed 13 turnovers in the whole game. This benefits both the Heat’s offense and its defense.

The offense benefits from more scoring opportunities and the defense benefits from fewer transition opportunities for the opponent. Only one Heat player, Bam Adebayo, had more than two turnovers in this game. It should be noted that Adebayo had three assists as well as three turnovers. The Heat must continue this trend of limiting turnovers in order to finish the season well.

Heat Season Companion Part 12: The Heat’s Bench Stepped Up

We’ve discussed the Heat’s bench not contributing enough many times throughout this season. Unfortunately, that has been a consistent issue for the Heat. Thankfully, the Heat’s bench did contribute in this blowout win against the Grizzlies.

The Heat’s bench contributed 45 points in this game. Max Strus had 12 points and Caleb Martin had 11 points to lead the way for the Heat’s bench unit. Additionally, the Heat’s bench players only committed a total of three turnovers, as well. The Heat will need consistent production from their bench unit to win as many games as possible before the end of the regular season.

The Heat Took Advantage of Their Opportunity

Ja Morant’s off-court issues this season have been well-documented. The Grizzlies had to play this game without him because of those issues and that gave the Heat an even better opportunity to win. The Heat took advantage of this opportunity and ran away with the win. Given the Heat’s situation this season, they can’t afford to pass up such opportunities. All that matters is winning as many of the remaining games as possible.

The Heat Play the Bulls in Chicago Next

The Heat have another very winnable game up next as they face the Bulls in Chicago. The Bulls have struggled quite a bit this season, with Lonzo Ball’s long-term injury significantly contributing to those struggles. Regardless, this is another game that the Heat need to win. I would bet that Bam Adebayo scores more than 20 points in this game, since he usually excels when matched up against Nikola Vucevic.

Check back next week for more Miami Heat content.