On Tuesday, the Miami Heat were finally able to field a complete roster for their final scrimmage before the resumption of the 2019-20 regular season.
Unfortunately, what should have been a momentum-building match turned into a dud as the team lost to the Memphis Grizzlies by 18 points.
Jimmy Butler talked with reporters after the game and offered his team a harsh reality check.
“You could be beat by anybody if you’re not playing basketball the right way,” Butler stated after being asked what his takeaways were from the loss. “We learned a lesson by going through the motions. If it starts bad, we’re probably going to end in the same way.”
The Heat have eight tough regular season games ahead of them. The results of these matches will determine their playoff seeding.
If Miami wants a higher ranking and a possibly easier path to the championship, the team will have to perform much better than it did against the Grizzlies, especially on defense and in rebounding.
In the contest, the Heat gave up 41 points in the first quarter. They offered little defensive resistance the rest of the match, allowing Memphis to score a total of 128 points.
Butler did the best he could to keep Miami in the game, scoring 18 points in under 23 minutes.