The Miami Heat travel to Washington for the last time this season on Sunday. With pride and the season series on the line, what’s NBA 2K think?
So far this season, the Miami Heat have played the Washington Wizards twice at home and won both. Their only loss to the rebuilding team came on the road in late December, interrupting what would’ve been a seven-game winning streak.
Heat Nation held its head low that night as they watched Jordan McRae, Garrison Matthews, and Ian Mahinmi torch the Miami Heat for their career highs in points that evening. Luckily for Heat fans, that can’t happen again as McRae was dealt to the Detroit Pistons, while Matthews hasn’t played an NBA game since February 7th.
The Miami Heat just ended a four-game winning streak with a six points loss to the New Orleans Pelicans. This team needs to find a way to start winning games outside of Miami if they want a chance at making any real noise in the playoffs. The trend surrounding their road losses is an alarming one as the Miami Heat have lost ten of their last 13 games away from American Airlines Arena.
After that realization, the task doesn’t become any easier now that Jae Crowder will join Tyler Herro and Meyers Leonard on the injury list after a Zion Williamson elbow gave him a concussion in their last game. A bright spot from this news is that the door was opened for Solomon Hill and he did not disappoint during his time on the floor.
Against a former team of his in the Pelicans, he accumulated five points, a rebound, two steals, and a block. I’m sure he’s been prepped by Head Coach Erik Spoelstra that his role has increased with Crowder out of the rotation. He’s got to make the best of it for the Heat to succeed.
Heat lists Jae Crowder as out Sunday at Washington. He's in concussion protocol after elbow from Zion. Herro and Leonard remain out. Derrick Jones is fine, not on injury report after being accidentally hit in eye by Solomon Hill.
— Barry Jackson (@flasportsbuzz) March 7, 2020
Every matchup is recorded for authenticity and uploaded to YouTube, so if you want to see the simulation for yourself, the latest upload to my channel will have the footage uninterrupted. There you’ll be able to see the adjustments I made to the rotation of each team and the players overall.
Starting Lineup
Miami Heat
Point guard, Kendrick Nunn
Shooting guard, Duncan Robinson
Small forward, Jimmy Butler
Power forward, Derrick Jones Jr.
Center, Bam Adebayo
Washington Wizards
Point guard, Shabazz Napier
Shooting guard, Bradley Beal
Small forward, Jerome Robinson
Power forward, Rui Hachimura
Center, Thomas Bryant
Outcome
Miami Heat 113, Washington Wizards 86
This game was light work to the Miami Heat. After dropping 36 points in the first quarter, the Heat went on to hold the Wizards to just 18 in the second.
By halftime, the Miami Heat had a commanding 18 point lead. Bam Adebayo was having a field day with 19 points, 12 rebounds, and two made 3-pointers up until this point. Jimmy Butler was already on triple-double watch as well.
The second half was more of the same. Even though the fourth frame ended in a tie at 26 apiece, the Miami Heat finished the game up by 27 points.
Bam Adebayo had reached his career-high again with 38 points, while Jimmy Butler did something he had only done twice before in a Miami heat uniform. He dropped off 13 dimes to go along with his 20 points and 12 rebounds.
As Shaquille O’Neal would say, they were “BARBECUE CHICKEN” on the block when Jimmy went to work. The Wizards allowed 48 points in the paint, and the Miami heat won handily while only having to take eight free throws. Don’t worry, they made them all.
Player stats
Miami Heat
Bam Adebayo – 38 points, 18 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 blocks
Jimmy Butler – 20 points, 12 rebounds, 13 assists, 1 steal, 2 blocks
Goran Dragic – 17 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 steal
Duncan Robinson – 15 points, 3 rebounds, 1 steal (3-of-11 beyond the arc *facepalm*)
Kendrick Nunn – 10 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal
Honorable mention: Solomon Hill – 6 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists
Washington Wizards
Bradley Beal – 27 points (1-of-14 from deep), 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal
Shabazz Napier – 11 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists
Mo Wagner – 11 points, 3 rebounds, 3 blocks
Davis Bertans – 11 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists
Rui Hachimura – 10 points, 8 rebounds
This would be a much-needed win for the Miami Heat as they look to secure their grasp on home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs. The job isn’t finished though because a win in Washington and a Celtics loss against the Thunder, who are the sixth-best road team in the NBA, the Miami Heat will move up to just a game and a half behind Boston for third place in the Eastern Conference. ¡Adelante!