Mateo’s Hoop Diary: Memphis Grizzlies ruin Terry Rozier’s Heat debut

Terry Rozier’s off-the-bench Heat debut was quiet, and the offense struggled to score, looking worse at times than what it was with Kyle Lowry, who was booted with a first-round pick to Charlotte. Following the first half, the scoreboard highlighted 49-42 in favor of the Grizzlies.

In the first quarter, the only things working were a pair of Jimmy Butler paint attacks. Tyler Herro and Bam Adebayo executed two-man actions. And Haywood Highsmith gave a jolt on offense with a transition hook and triple.

The Heat’s new point guard, Terry Rozier, was subbed eight-and-a-half minutes in. His first points in a Heat jersey came at the line after getting fouled in transition, plus he added two rebounds. His one miss was a left-handed layup through the middle over Jaren Jackson Jr.’s help defense.

Defensively, the Heat permitted the Grizzlies five of 12 trifectas because of late switches in man coverage, ball movement dicing the zone and the on-ball defender going under the screen. One basket was allowed inside the arc. Bam Adebayo hounded Jackson, blocking two hooks in the lane, and the rest of the team contested cleanly, giving up only 21 points.

In the second quarter, Rozier relocated to the corner after dribbling into the paint for a catch-and-shoot 3-pointer, his only field goal of the half. But he failed on two drive-bys- isolating David Roddy on the left side and misfiring on a pick-and-roll layup because of Jackson, the low man’s presence. Mostly, he looked like someone just traded to a new squad who isn’t trying to step on anybody’s toes on offense- a mistake because that’s not why they got him.

Butler downshifted to third gear, passing up an opportunity to draw contact with Jackson at the rim on a transition drive, instead passing out to the corner. In nearly eight minutes of the frame, he made one of two buckets at the right corner and two free throws while the squad was desperate for someone to take over. The rest of the Heatles registered 20% of tries.

At halftime, the Heat was down seven on the scoring ledger, behind on the glass by two, with eight fastbreak points, two via second opportunities and nine from turnovers. The offense was pathetic, logging 72.7 points per 100 half-court plays, good enough for the second percentile of all games this season, per cleaning the glass.

Butler had nine points on three of seven shots. Adebayo had six on the scorecard on 20% of attempts but supplied six boards, the two aforementioned rejections and three dimes. Tyler Herro had seven points and four negligent turnovers.

On the other side, the Grizzlies converted 10 of 21 triples. Vince Williams had 13 points, torching the corners and beating Rozier on a hard closeout to get into the paint for a layup. GG Jackson had 11 points, burning the Heat’s transition defense from long range, rolled to the rim and made three free throws.

In the third quarter, two horrific passes by Butler- inbounding the ball and passing while in the air, not knowing where to go- resulted in a three-pointer and a fastbreak score for the Grizzlies. Offensively, he made four freebies and rolled to the rim, bumping Roddy away for a bucket.

Adebayo had three blocks- chasing down Jackson and denying him twice in iso- with six points and five rebounds.

Herro maneuvered inside for a pull-up jumper against man coverage, another facing the zone and connected on a reverse layup and floater.

Rozier had two assists, a turnover, a miss and a rebound.

In the fourth quarter, Caleb Martin was the high Heatle, making all four baskets. Rozier broke Xavier Tillman down with his dribble for a left-handed scoop layup and made a right-hander against Jackson in drop coverage. But he missed his three 3-point ventures.

For the Grizzlies, Williams dribbled by Butler, nailing a floater over Adebayo and splashed a left-corner triple when left unattended. Jackson drove past Butler for a layup when the switch created a mismatch and jolted Adebayo backward on a drive, hitting a jump hook. And Scotty Pippen Jr. beat Rozier from the top to the cup for a deuce, had a fastbreak score, and dusted Martin off a switch to the rim.

Despite the Heat having its most efficient quarter late, it had 17 turnovers and lost 96-105. The squad spent 17.3% of the time in transition, yet it only added .7 points per 100 of those possessions, good enough for the 35 percentile of all games this season, per CTG.

The Heat were behind in fastbreak points 13-21, down in second chance opportunities 6-11, and trailing in points off turnovers 14-24.

Butler had 15 points on four of 10 tries. Rozier ended with nine on 27.3% shooting.

Memphis’ Williams had 25 on the scorecard on 80% of attempts.

At the postgame presser, coach Erik Spoelstra praised Adebayo’s defensive effort, saying, “It’s just a shame we couldn’t turn those kinds of defensive performances into one of those ugly wins we really like.”

When asked about how Rozier works with Herro, he said it was tough to get excited, considering the loss was a buzzkill. He added, “I definitely see the possibilities with those two guys…We’ll really be able to build on that chemistry that we just quickly saw tonight. And they’ll get a ton of more minutes together, so it will happen one way or another.”

—

For exclusive Miami Heat content and chats, subscribe to Off the Floor: