Heat keep moving up in play-in seeding alive with blowout of Wizards

A day after the Toronto Raptors swept the Miami Heat 4-0 on the season, the Heat turned around and handed the lowly Washington Wizards a 4-0 regular-season sweep. All four games were won by double-digits, with the latest and last one won by a 140-117 box score. 

The Heat went into Washington on the heels of dropping two in a row to the Raptors, and both games were blowouts. Not only did they get the win, but the Heat kept their chances alive of moving up in the play-in seeding, though it's more of a strong outside chance than anything else.

Still, the Heat had to bounce back after two dreadful losses in a row. Perhaps luck was on Miami's side in drawing the Wizards on Friday night rather than an upper-echelon team in the East. Nevertheless, the Heat showed up thanks to strong performances by their role players, and at the end of the day, a win is a win. 

Jaime Jaquez Jr. comes up big for the Heat with key players sidelined

The Heat were without some key players against the Wizards, with Bam Adebayo and Andrew Wiggins the only two who are regular starters to lace up. Tyler Herro, Norman Powell, and Davion Mitchell all sat out, which meant others had to step up, and they did.

While both Adebayo (20 points) and Wiggins (11 points) shot efficiently from the field, it was explosive performances from Pelle Larsson (24 points), Simone Fontecchio (24 points), and Jaime Jaquez Jr. (23 points) who did most of the offensive lifting for the Heat. 

Jaquez and Fontecchio were especially great from long distance, shooting a combined 9-for-12 from three; Fontecchio had six of those made three-pointers. Simply put, Miami's "others" came to play, and they won the game for the Heat. Overall, eight of Miami's nine players who saw the floor for more than a minute scored in double digits. 

The Heat needed this game; they needed a win, and they got it, if not for anything significant in the standings, then for pride, or motivation, or simply the feeling of coming out on top after the way this week has gone for them.

Miami will finish its season at home against the hottest team in the NBA over the last two months, or at least the hottest team in the Eastern Conference, the Atlanta Hawks. Miami will enter that game with a 42-39 record and will look to end the season with another win.