The Washington Wizards (5-13) defeated the Miami Heat (7-14) 103-100 in Miami on Wednesday night. Instead of fighting back from behind, Washington kept a late lead, even as the Heat ran to keep the Wizards on their toes.
This victory was also remarkable because they were behind for much of the game. Like most games this season, Washington played from behind, especially in the middle, things did not look good by the end of the second half and for most of the start of the third quarter, Heat had a lead of 13 points built up.
Washington was able to take halfway through the fourth seven-point lead and took a 96-89 lead before Miami made another turn to keep things close. There were a few solid possessions, like a missed travel call on Kelly Olynyk that could turn things in Miami’s favor, or even when Bradley Beal was somehow not left with just a few seconds left, when Miami had the chance to try to get another one. possess.
But in the end, Washington’s zone defense kept things difficult for Miami, as they shot 43.4 percent for the game as a whole. The defense was very good especially in the second half as Miami held only 35 points.
Beal kept his 25-point game series alive, scoring 32 points, giving up 4 shots and grabbing 9 rebounds. In fact, he now holds the NBA record for consecutive 25-point games with 17, over Michael Jordan who had 16 straight 25-point games in the 1988-89 season.
But I was also happy to see that Deni Avdija was a little more aggressive with basketball. He scored 13 points and was 3-out-5 out of three. But this dunk in the fourth quarter is definitely his highlight of the night.
Troy Brown Jr. also saw his first game action since Jan. 9, at the same time against the Heat, scoring 9 points and tackling 7 rebounds in 21 minutes of action. Although he did not have the biggest stats in the team, Brown definitely played with positive energy tonight.
For the heat. Tyler Herro led their scorers by 20 points.
All in all, it was a good win for the Wizards, as they want to get the ship ready after a poor season starting in January.
Washington has another game against Heat on Friday, February 5 at 8:00 PM ET. We’ll see what happens then.