By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
No Ja Morant, no problem.
Aiming to bounce back after dropping their last game against the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Memphis Grizzlies made sure to wrap up their four-game home stand with a win, following a demolition exhibition handed on the Miami Heat, 125-91, in the ongoing NBA regular season on March 16, 2025.
The Grizzlies did it without their star player, Ja Morant, who is nursing a right shoulder soreness that forced him to sit out the game against the visiting Heat squad.
Miami never had a lead in the whole game and quickly received a high-octane offensive efficiency from Memphis as early as the opening quarter.
In just the first 12 minutes of the ball game, the Grizzlies already tallied 38 points, their highest-scoring quarter in the matchup.
Memphis had a massive lift from the returning Jarren Jackson Jr. who dominated the shaded lane against the tough defense provided by Miami’s premier center Bam Adebayo.
After hitting a tough sweeping hook shot and a crafty shimmy in the left block, the Grizzlies rode the hot hands of Jackson and continued to feed him the ball in the post.
Frustrated with how Jackson manhandled them in the paint, Miami head coach Erik Spoelstra devised soft double teams to contain him but that also didn’t work as it left Desmond Bane open from downtown.
It was an easy offensive approach for the Grizzlies. Let the double come, and pitch the kick-out pass to the first open shooter. Bane benefited from that and knocked down two big treys in the second.
Memphis already blew the game open entering the second half with a 15-point advantage and made things worse when they limited the Heat to just 19 points in the third.
Their tremendous help defense shut down Miami’s shooters and applied a mixed zone that forced the Heat to drive in their hole.
That strategy paid off dividends as the defensive prowess of Jackson inside denied most of Miami’s aggressive attacks, backstopped by Zach Edey’s size that was enough to disrupt their floaters.
Miami never won a quarter and also conceded the last period with a 31-24 disadvantage. Tyler Herro, the team’s leading scorer, only delivered eight points in the loss off a disappointing 3/12 shooting from the field.
Jackson led all scorers with 31 markers built from an efficient 13/18 offensive showing alongside six rebounds, two blocks, and an assist. Meanwhile, Bane clinched a near triple-double stat line of 22 points, 10 boards, eight dimes, and two steals.
The Grizzlies will look to maintain their top 5 standing in the Western Conference on March 18, 2025, as they visit the Sacramento Kings that will kick off their five-game road streak.
