Five Stars: Bear Trap!

Five Stars is a series where Hot Hot Hoops breaks down each Miami Heat box score through the season for the best GameScores. The top five from each contest are the Five Stars of the night, whether they play for the Heat or their opponent, in this case the Memphis Grizzlies. This article is for Miami’s 90-81 road win against the Grizzlies (it wasn’t really as close as that score looks).

First Star

Tyler Johnson (MIA) 16.3

Johnson earned his first “First” Star of the season with his sixth Five Star appearance overall, and now ranks firmly in a distant second place in the season’s standings, waaaay behind Hassan Whiteside (who did not appear in the top five players last night for just the fourth time this season).

Johnson came off the bench for 32 minutes in total, and scored a game-high 22 points on eight-of-17 shooting, making just one-of-five from outside and five-for-seven from the foul stripe. He had five rebounds, two steals and a blocked shot, earning a plus-1 rating for his efforts on the night.

He’s being aggressive where we need him to be aggressive. He’s an example of the ball finding energy, but the ball has to move to find that energy. - Heat coach Erik Spoelstra

Second Star

Dion Waiters (MIA) 11.9

Waiters played a game-high 35 minutes starting at shooting guard for the Heat. He ranked first amongst Miami starters with 15 points, one of five players for double-figures for the good guys. He made six-of-15 shots including one-of-four from outside and both of his free throws, with four rebounds, four assists, three steals and a game-high plus-21 rating. Like Johnson, it was Waiters’ sixth time in the Five Stars.

To be honest, I’m about 60% out there. I feel like my team needs me. If the injury’s not killing me, I’m going to battle through it. I’m going to fight, that’s who I am. - Waiters

Third Star

Josh Richardson (MIA) 11.6

Richardson finished in the money for just the second time this season, with his highest Star placement so far. He made four-of-seven from long distance, missing his only two field goals from two-point range and not making it to the line. In 26 minutes, he also had four assists, three defensive boards, and one steal to go with his 12 points.

Fourth Star

JaMychal Green (MEM) 10.2

Green represents Memphis’ best effort of the night, with 14 points and six rebounds in 31 minutes. He made five-of-nine shots (all two-pointers) and all four of his free throws, with six rebounds (three on each end of the floor), an assist, and a minus-9 rating.

Fifth Star

Michael Conley (MEM) 9.9

Conley scored 16 points off the bench, making five-of-15 shots from the field and all five of his foul shots. He made one-of-four from deep, with four rebounds, three assists, a steal and a block. He finished the night with a plus-3 rating.

Notable

Friday’s Worst

Aside from Luke Babbitt (two-for-four) and Udonis Haslem (two-for-two), nobody on the Heat shot above .500 from the field. Miami’s eight other participants in Friday’s game combined to shoot 29-for-79 - a 37.9% shooting success rate.

Season Standings

Hassan Whiteside 80
Tyler Johnson 39
Dion Waiters 27
Goran Dragic 23
James Johnson 13
Josh Richardson 11
Justise Winslow 6
Willie Reed 3
Rodney McGruder 3

Miami will wrap their home-and-home series with the Grizzlies tomorrow night back at AmericanAirlines Arena.