Miami Heat have great history against Washington Wizards, but will it last?

The Miami Heat played great basketball against the Washington Wizards last season, but can they do it again this time around?

The Miami Heat won every single game against the Washington Wizards last season.

They first faced off in preseason on October 4, coming out on top 106-95.

And although it may not have counted towards the team’s final record, Hassan Whiteside sure treated it like a regular season contest. Finishing the matchup with 20 points on an impressive 9-of-12 shooting, he also grabbed 13 rebounds and swatted three blocks. The big man was a monster on both ends of the floor, and did a little bit of everything offensively. While he certainly made his presence felt in the paint, he also knocked down a handful of jumpers. Despite the start of 2016-17 being rocky, it was performances like this that showed the team’s potential right away.

Then on November 19, Miami walked away with their first regular season win over Washington.

Finishing 114-111, it was Goran Dragic who led the squad to victory. He totaled 22 points (going 7-for-14 from the field), 3 rebounds and 6 assists, finally being able to prove his worth. It was his first year not being stuck in Dwyane Wade’s shadow, giving him the ability to run the offense at his own pace. Because of this, he was able to both drive fast down the lane (drawing contact to boot), and pull them up from downtown. And of course, he also got other guys involved. Take Josh Richardson for example, who scored 15 points after shooting 4-of-6 from beyond-the-arc.

Next came the Heat’s 112-101 win, on December 12.

It was once again Dragic who stole the show, this time in an even more major way. The point guard finished with a whopping 34 points, and shot 14-of-23 from the field. It was an offensive Miami career-high for the Slovenian, who also did some damage defensively, with five rebounds.

James Johnson also started to show flashes of brilliance off of the bench. He totaled 14 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists, with 10 of those points coming from 4-of-6 shooting in the fourth quarter.

Things were close on April 8, but fortunately the Heat closed things out, 106-103.

In large part, Miami had Whiteside to thank for this win, as the big fella finished with 30 points on the night. He shot 12-of-19 from the field, corralled12 rebounds (including five offensive), dished out two assists, had three blocks and grabbed two steals.

But another Gatorade League alum also played his heart out. Tyler Johnson had 19 points, 4 rebounds and 2 assists, while also making things tough for Wizards guard Bradley Beal.

The team’s final win versus Washington came on April 12, as they came out 110-102.

It was another Dragic-heavy night for Miami, as he finished with 28 points on 11-of-21 shooting. He also dished out five assists, grabbed four boards and had a steal. However, this game was truly a team effort, through and through. It seems that Whiteside loves matching up against Wizards center Marcin Gortat, because once more, the 27-year-old went to work. The big man totaled 24 points (10-for-24), 18 rebounds and 2 blocks on the evening. He wasn’t the only one that got things done either. James Johnson almost had a triple-double, with 12 points, 8 rebounds and 8 assists.

The question now is, how will this new Heat team fair against Washington?

While Miami took the W in preseason (117-115), it wasn’t easy. And since then, 2017-18 hasn’t exactly been a walk in the park for the Heat. Even worse, the two teams are about to play each other back-to-back.

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The Miami Heat will host the Washington Wizards on Wednesday, November 15 at 7:30 PM ET. They will then head back on the road and face off on Friday, November 17 at 7 PM ET.