
A healthy Dwyane Wade has helped the Miami Heat get off to a solid start to this season after a disastrous 2007-08.
The Memphis Grizzlies, meanwhile, are starting to get their season on track thanks to the emergence of rookie O.J. Mayo.On Sunday, Wade and the Heat look to bounce back from a disappointing loss as they visit Mayo and the Grizzlies, who are trying to win four straight games for the first time in three seasons.
Wade missed 31 games last season due to various injuries, a big reason why Miami (12-10) finished a NBA-worst 15-67.
This season, Wade has helped lead the Heat to the sixth-best record in the Eastern Conference thanks to his league-best 29.1 points per game.
The four-time All-Star wasn't quite as sharp in Friday's 87-73 loss to Atlanta, though, as Miami's four-game winning streak was snapped. Wade finished with 21 points on 9-of-24 shooting after averaging 34.7 points on 53.7 percent shooting in his previous six games.
The Heat jumped out to a fast start against the Hawks, building an 18-5 lead seven minutes in, but Miami's shots stopped falling. The Heat ended up shooting 38.6 percent from the floor in their second-lowest scoring total of the season. They were averaging 107.0 points during their winning streak.
"We came out like we were supposed to, with a lot of energy," Wade said. "But this is a good team."
Rookie forward Michael Beasley, the second overall pick of this year's draft, sat out with the flu on Friday. It was the first game missed this season by Beasley, who is Miami's second-leading scorer behind Wade.
The Heat hope Beasley, who is third among all rookies in scoring (13.9), will play on Sunday.
The Grizzlies (8-15) are led by their own budding first-year star, as Mayo, the third overall pick of the draft, leads all rookies in scoring (20.5).
On Friday, Mayo finished with 14 points in Memphis' 103-96 win over Chicago and top overall selection Derrick Rose. Rudy Gay matched a season high with 29 points, and Hakim Warrick added 21 off the bench.
The win marked the first time the Grizzlies won three straight under Marc Iavaroni, now in his second season as their coach. Memphis, which dropped eight of nine before this run, has not won four straight since winning the final five games of the 2005-06 season.
"I think this whole run has been a total team effort," said Warrick, who is averaging 15.3 points in his last six games after just 4.0 points in his previous six. "It's been a different guy stepping up at different key points of the game and making big plays."
The Grizzlies are averaging 106.7 points in their last three games, up from 91.9 in their previous nine.
"It's starting to come into place," Gay said. "Got a couple under our belt, got some confidence. Hopefully, it'll boil over."
The Grizzlies swept the two-game season series over the Heat in 2007-08 for the first time since 2002-03. Wade missed one game with a knee injury and came off the bench in the other.