Dragic missing, offense lacking
Heat looking for ways to facilitate as guard has sat out 11 of last 13 games
MEMPHIS —With point guard Goran Dragic missing his 11th game out of the team’s past 13 with a lingering knee issue, the Miami Heat need to find ways to create opportunities for one another offensively.
In the 111-84 loss on Wednesday at Utah, the Heat had only 16 assists. The individual leaders were Miami’s two available centers, Bam Adebayo and Kelly Olynyk, each of whom had three assists.
Granted, shooting 37.7 percent against the Jazz didn’t help boost the assists total, but improved passing can also lead to better looks at the basket.
Wings Josh Richardson and Justise Winslow have played larger ball-handling roles in Dragic’s absence.
“I just try to play how I usually play,” Richardson said. “I try to be aggressive for us, but [I am] trying to find open guys. When [Dragic is] out, I’m definitely Heat 100, Grizzlies 97: going to have to adjust, pick it up a little bit.”
In true Erik Spoelstra fashion, the Heat coach shifted the focus to the team’s defense when asked if players need to facilitate more for each other with Dragic out.
“We need to really commit defensively,” Spoelstra
said. “We’re not necessarily going to make up 17 points a game, and I don’t want guys thinking, ‘I’ve got to shoulder this offensive load.’
“If anything, we have some potential to really be a tough defensive team with some Swiss Army [knife] guys out there, but we’ve got to do it. We can’t just talk about it.”
As far as that ugly in Utah, the Heat moved on.
“That game is behind me,” said Spoelstra, who added the ball movement was better in the first three games of the road trip. “I’m not even thinking about it anymore. It was categorically poor.”
Said Richardson: “Delete it. Don’t even think about it, just move forward.” night have
The big game in town: Bigger — within the state of Tennessee at least — than Friday night’s HeatGrizzlies game is the college basketball pairing of in-state rivals Tennessee and Memphis at FedEx Forum on Saturday at noon.
“I think the rivalry’s great,” said Richardson, a Tennessee alum. “It’s good for the state. It’s good for both programs.”
The buzz in Tennessee is building as the Volunteers are ranked third in the Associated Press poll.
“I’ve been letting everybody hear about it,” Richardson said. “Hopefully the guys keep it up.”
The matchup brings back memories of the 2008 game between Volunteers and Tigers, when Memphis was ranked No. 1 and Tennessee No. 2.
The Volunteers handed Memphis its only regularseason loss, but the Tigers went on to reach the national championship game, where they lost to Kansas in overtime. Another player who would go on to play for the Heat, point guard Mario Chalmers, hit the 3-pointer over Derrick Rose to force the extra period.
“I didn’t really watch either team a lot, but I remember sitting down in the kitchen, sneaking to watch it,” said Richardson, who was a freshman in high school at the time.
Change of pace: Friday night’s matchup bucks the trend of today’s fast-paced NBA by pitting teams that have been playing a number of grind-it-out games.
“All the traditionalists will be watching this game on [NBA] League Pass,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra joked during Friday’s shootaround.
The Grizzlies are the NBA’s third-lowest scoring team at game.
The Heat are ahead but not by much, with their 107.2 scoring average ranking them 24th among 30 teams.
“I guess both franchises have used this term: You want to compete and ‘play in the mud,’ ” Spoelstra said. “They do it at an extremely high level and they’re back to the grit and grind that’s made them so successful over the years.
“[Grizzlies coach J.B. Bickerstaff] has done a terrific job blending the new youth they have with the fixtures they have with [center Marc] Gasol and [point guard Mike] Conley. They’re off to a great start and much of it is because of that defensive commitment, the physicality they bring.”
In the NBA’s advanced metric of offensive rating, the two teams, entering Friday, are in the bottom six. Conversely, in defensive rating, the Grizzlies are fourth and Heat ninth. As far as pace, the Grizzlies play the slowest, averaging 96.4 possessions per game.
“They’re a tough team,” Richardson said. “It’s always kind of been their mantra, so we know we’re going to have a dogfight ahead of us.” 102.9 points per BASEBALL: The Padres agreed to terms with four-time All-Star 2B Ian Kinsler on a two-year contract . ... A’s 3B Matt Chapman had surgery on his left shoulder, his second operation this offseason, and is expected to begin swinging a bat in six weeks . ... RHP Jimmy Nelson agreed to a one-year, $3.7 million contract with the Brewers after missing all of last season due to shoulder surgery . ... C James McCann agreed to a oneyear, $2.5 million contract with the White Sox, reports said . ... Joan Steinbrenner, wife of late Yankees owner George Steinbrenner, died at 83 in Tampa.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL: Kentucky RB Benny Snell Jr., who had three straight 1,000-yard rushing seasons, will skip his senior year to enter the NFL draft but will play for the Wildcats on New Year’s Day against Penn State in the Citrus Bowl. ... Tennessee LB Quart’e Sapp will bypass his final season of eligibility to enter the NFL draft . ... Former Maryland coach DJ Durkin is spending time with the Alabama football staff but hasn’t been hired, coach Nick Saban said . ... Indiana freshman DB Jamar Johnson faces a charge of resisting law enforcement after his arrest on campus for allegedly smoking marijuana . ... Minnesota extended coach P.J. Fleck’s contract by one year through the 2023 season . ... North Carolina State named assistants Des Kitchings and George McDonald as co-offensive coordinators.
GOLF: David Lipsky took a one-shot lead into the weekend at the Alfred Dunhill Championship in Malelane, South Africa. He shot a 66 and was at 8-under 136, one stroke ahead of Scott Jamieson (66) and Marc Warren (67).
OLYMPICS: The USOC selected Salt Lake City to bid for an upcoming Winter Olympics, most likely 2030. Salt Lake, which hosted in 2002, still has many venues in place, some of them upgraded.
SOCCER: Dave Sarachan, who oversaw the U.S. men’s national team on an interim basis for a year after its failure to qualify for the World Cup, is the front-runner to become head coach of second-division North Carolina FC.