The Washington Wizards (5-13) defeated the Miami Heat (7-14) 103-100 on Wednesday night in Miami. Instead of fighting from behind, Washington kept the lead late, even when the Heat was racing to keep the Wizards on their feet.
This victory was also notable because they were left behind for much of the game. Like most games this season, Washington played behind, especially in the middle. Things did not look good at the end of the second half and for much of the start of the third quarter, when Heat built a 13 point lead.
Washington took a seven-point lead in the middle of the quarter and led 96-89 before Miami made another run to keep things closed. There were some restricted possessions, like a missed trip call to Kelly Olynyk that could have turned things around in Miami, or even when Bradley Beal was not messed up with mere seconds remaining in the game when Miami had a chance to try to get another possession .
But in the end, Washington’s defense zone made things difficult for Miami, as they got 43.4% of the game right. The defense was very good especially in the second half, as Miami was left with just 35 points.
Beal kept his 25-point streak alive, scoring 32 points, giving 4 assists and catching 9 rebounds. In fact, he now has the NBA record for consecutive games of 25 points, with 17, over Michael Jordan, who had 16 consecutive games of 25 points in the 1988-89 season.
But I was also happy to see Deni Avdija being a little more aggressive with basketball. He scored 13 points and went 3 out of 5 out of three. But this buried in the fourth bedroom is definitely the highlight of the night.
Troy Brown Jr. also saw his first action game since January 9, coincidentally against the Heat, scoring 9 points and getting 7 rebounds in 21 minutes of action. Although he didn’t have the biggest stats sheet on the team, Brown was definitely playing with positive energy tonight.
For the heat. Tyler Herro led his scorers with 20 points.
Overall, this was a good victory for the Wizards, who are looking to repair the ship after a poor start to the season in January.
Washingon has yet another game against the Heat on Friday, February 5 at 8 pm ET. Let’s see what happens then.