The Miami Heat defeated the Memphis Grizzlies, 120-101, at American Airlines Arena on Wednesday evening.

The Heat (1-0) announced earlier in the day that prized offseason acquisition Jimmy Butler would miss the season opener for personal reasons. With Dion Waiters already suspended for the contest as well, that left the Miami starting five notably short-handed. After a slow first quarter in which they were outscored by four points, the home squad would go on to outscore the Grizzlies (0-1) by a 59-52 margin in the middle periods and outpace Memphis by a 37-17 margin over the final 12 minutes to seal the big home victory.

Jaren Jackson, Jr. led the Grizzlies with 17 points, adding three rebounds, two blocks and one steal. Tyus Jones followed with a bench-leading 15 points, complementing them with seven assists, one rebound and two steals. Second overall pick Ja Morant posted 14 points, four rebounds, four assists, one steal and one block in his regular-season debut. Jae Crowder totaled 13 points, five rebounds, two assists and one steal.

Justise Winslow led the Heat with 27 points, complementing them with seven rebounds, seven assists, one steal and one block. Kris Nunn provided 24 points, three assists, two rebounds and two steals. Goran Dragic came off the bench to pitch in 19 points, three rebounds, three assists, two blocks and one steal. Rookie Tyler Herro poured in 14 points and added eight rebounds, one assist and two steals. Bam Adebayo matched Herro's scoring and added 11 rebounds, three assists and one steal.

The Grizzlies head home to take on the Chicago Bulls on Friday evening, while the Heat pay a visit to the Milwaukee Bucks on Saturday afternoon.