Behind their best offensive game of the year, the Heat scored a season-high 114 points to take down the Washington Wizards. Miami’s record improves to 4-8, and it’s their first time winning multiple games in a row.
Miami Heat 114, Washington Wizards 111
Despite also allowing their highest opponent point total of the season, the Heat have a lot to be happy about. For starters, tonight was only Miami’s second road win of the year. The first came all the way back on October 26th, in their opening game against the Orlando Magic.
Further, Miami did one heck of a job distributing the scoring load. The team had five different players score at least 15 points, in what was their most well-rounded performance thus far.
The first half of tonight’s game was a back-and-forth affair, as the lead changed hands 19 times. The Heat struggled to slow down the stellar Wizards back-court of John Wall and Bradley Beal. Wall had six assists through the opening five minutes of the game, while Beal led them in scoring with 15 first half points. On the other side, Goran Dragic was brilliant for Miami. He had 15 points on five shot attempts. Miami clung to a 60-59 lead at the break.
In the second half, the Heat were able to pull away thanks to Josh Richardson heating up, and Hassan Whiteside taking over down low. Richardson made 3 threes in the 3rd quarter alone. Meanwhile, Whiteside was there to gobble up offensive rebounds after misses, and give the team extra possessions. The Heat’s lead ballooned to 108-91 in the 4th quarter, with the final outcome appearing closer due to Miami’s porous free-throw shooting late (a problem that doesn’t seem to be going away).
Despite Miami having 16 turnovers on the night, their efficient shooting and superb rebounding carried them to a solid road win. The Heat shot 51 percent from the floor and 48 percent from deep (nailing 13 threes for the game).
They also out-rebounded Washington 48-38, making it three straight games where Miami has won the rebounding battle. We all know that Miami’s offense is still a work in progress. However, their defense is so good that if they can continue to rebound consistently, they may be able to turn these early season losses into wins.
Wall and Beal combined for 68 points for Washington, while the rest of the Wizards scored 43 in total. They fall to 3-9 on the season.
On a night where multiple guys gave positive contributions, here are the player grades for the Miami Heat:
Rodney McGruder had a solid night that didn’t really translate to the stat sheet. He was active defensively and hustled all over the floor going for loose balls. McGruder is reminiscent of a smaller (and much younger) Udonis Haslem. Luke Babbitt played three minutes and managed to turn the ball over twice, to go along with an air-ball to close the first half. I don’t think I really have to expound on his performance.
Next up, your Miami Heat travel to the Wells Fargo Center to face off with Joel “The Process” Embiid and the Philadelphia 76ers. Tip-off is at 7 PM on Monday.