Norman Powell, Tyler Hero on the main goal regarding the game tournament

MIAMI – Like showdown between Miami Heat and Memphis Grizzlies he was late physically, a fight broke out between Myron Gardner and Scottie Pippen Jr. The game ended with the home team taking care of business Saturday 136-120. With Warmth in the pursuit of achieving your personal goals with 24 games left in the season, Norman Powell and Tyler Herro revealed what’s at the top of the team’s list to conquer.

For the past three seasons, Miami has finished in familiar territory, locked in as the eighth seed, making the playoffs through the playoffs. To get out of contention for the tournament, the team must finish at least as the sixth seed, with the Heat advancing after Saturday’s win and the Orlando Magic losing in double overtime to the Phoenix Suns. Miami is now seventh at 31-27.

At the moment, the Philadelphia 76ers are sixth with a record of 30-26, and the standings could change at the same time depending on the results of each game. After the win over the Grizzlies, Powell would admit how “focused” the team is about playing to their strengths and avoiding the tournament in the game.

“We want to get out of the game. So we’re locked in, obviously we know what we have to do. … Nobody’s going to help us,” Powell said after scoring 25 points. “It’s all on us, we control what we can control as a team … we do our best and we do our best to give us a chance to get out of it.”

“Obviously, we want (teams) to have a little bit of a slump as we go along and get these wins,” Powell continued. “But we’re focused on how we need to play and how we need to compete every night.”

Norman Powell on Heat focusing on playoff exit: #HeatNation

“That’s what we’re focused on. We want to get out of the game. We’re committed to it. We know what we have to do. We’re not hoping that somebody will come and help us, it’s all on us…” pic.twitter.com/9iF8jHEfd0

— Zachary Weinberger (@ZachWeinberger) February 22, 2026

Heat is Tyler Herro on what Erik Spoelstra talk about all the time

While it is Heat seeks to maximize its potentialespecially now that the team is at its healthiest in a while, even though they were without Davion Mitchell and Nikola Jovic on Saturday, the key is to string together wins. Miami struggled to even win back-to-back games until the start of 2026, but now, with offensive reinforcements in Hero returning after missing a total of 45 games this season, the goal is set to get at least the sixth seed.

Hero came off the bench again, and although he scored a game-high 24 points against the Atlanta Hawks on Friday, he wasn’t as effective against Memphis, scoring 14 points. Still, he’s bouncing back after missing 15 straight games before Friday and admitted that in addition to him and Bam Adebayo, who mostly want to get out of the game because they’ve experienced it the most, so does head coach Erik Spoelstra.

“Yes, our coach talks about it every day“Herro said when talking about exiting the tournament. “We as players, mainly me and Bam, who were here, we want to exit the play-in. That’s our goal, and that’s our first goal. We have a lot of goals.”

Tyler Herro talks after the game about how he continues to feel after coming back from a rib injury, the team’s depth, how the coach talks about coming out of the playoffs and more: #HeatNation pic.twitter.com/mFkiBkau9A

— Zachary Weinberger (@ZachWeinberger) February 22, 2026

If anything is certain, Miami seems to be making strides offensively, scoring over 120 points in the last three games and even scoring at least 70 points in the last two games.

“I like a lot of what’s going on offensively in the last two games,Spoelstra told ClutchPoints. “Playing a real team game, sharing the ball, being aggressive, back-to-back 70-point games. Taking the right shots, guys are really playing the right way, and it shows.”

Asked Erik Spoelstra about an offense that hasn’t skipped a beat, though a defense giving up 120 isn’t something he likely wants to give up every game.

“I like a lot of what’s going on offensively the last two games, playing a real college game . . .”

Full answer: #HeatNation pic.twitter.com/VaKj1lked9

— Zachary Weinberger (@ZachWeinberger) February 22, 2026

Norman Powell on what the Heat are starting to do

Despite their current three-game winning streak coming against subpar teams like the New Orleans Pelicans, Hawks, and now the Grizzlies, the team has had trouble dealing with weak opponents in the past. Either way, it’s the first time in over a month that Miami has won three straight games, leading Powell to tell ClutchPoints how the Heat “we are beginning to engage in collective efforts.”

“I think right now, at this point in the season, put all the mess out, nothing else matters but winning,” Powell said. “I think that’s the most important thing. And I think we’re really starting to embrace the collective effort and trust each other and work on the game. And I think that’s the biggest part.”

“I think we’re obviously finally healthy, you know, we didn’t have (Mitchell) tonight like, but I think it’s the healthiest we’ve been all year, and we just want to continue to build that chemistry and do all the little things to help us get these games out and not have a slide and continue to focus on our goal of getting out of the tournament in the game.”

Asked Norman Powell about the Heat winning three straight games for the first time in a while, and after joking that it was a fluke (lol), he would talk about how the team is “starting to get into a collective effort” and the goal of getting out of the tournament in play: #HeatNation pic.twitter.com/5VOEKSVbFUv

— Zachary Weinberger (@ZachWeinberger) February 22, 2026

Miami is now 31-27, which puts them in seventh place in the East as they head into a two-game road trip that begins Tuesday against the Milwaukee Bucks.