Heat seek a season sweep against Wizards after suffering one of their own

The Miami Heat are back at it again Friday night after falling in back-to-back games against the Toronto Raptors earlier this week. The losses stymied the Heat from moving up in the play-in seeding, but it also marked an embarrassing 4-0 regular season sweep at the hands of the Raptors. 

That said, against the Wizards, the Heat have an opportunity to complete a 4-0 regular season sweep of their own. Miami is 3-0 against Washington this season and has already beaten them in their own building. Both teams are playing the second half of a back-to-back, so there is no advantage for either team other than home floor for the Wizards. 

The Heat are expected to fare better against the Wizards than they did against the Raptors, whose offense was simply too much for the Heat to handle. The Wizards are far from the offense that the Raptors are, so, in that light, this game should be easier for the Heat to get ahead, stay ahead, and come out on top. 

The Heat is now playing for pride

It's virtually certain that the Heat will end the season as the 10th seed in the East, the very last play-in spot. Still, the Heat need to win their last two games for the sake of their own pride, and it starts with beating the NBA's worst team on Friday night.

It feels like months ago that Bam Adebayo scored 83 points on these very same Wizards, considering how far the Heat have tumbled since. They've lost 10 of their last 13 games, and two in a row this week. Still, depending on how things pan out with the play-in teams above them, the Heat are still in position to at least rise to the eighth seed, currently being held down by the Philadelphia 76ers.

Miami is two games behind Philadelphia and two games behind the Charlotte Hornets. Miami would need the cards to come up in their favor, but they also have to handle their own business with their two remaining games. 

Last Saturday, when the Heat and Wizards met for the third time, Kel'el Ware and Jaime Jaquez Jr. both had massive games, scoring 24 and 32 points respectively, while Andrew Wiggins led the Heat's starting lineup with 21 points, in a 152-136 victory. It was the third straight double-digit win for the Heat against the Wizards. 

After getting swept by Toronto this week, it would be nice for Miami to complete its own season sweep and make it 4-0 over Washington. As discouraging as this week has been for the Heat so far, they still have something to play for in the play-in.