The Miami HEAT defeated the Washington Wizards 97-75 Sunday night at Verizon Center. Chris Bosh led the way for the HEAT with 23 points.
1. Bosh Efficient Again
From the start, Bosh was very aggressive against the Wizards. For a majority of the game, he attacked off the pick-and-pop and pick-and-roll. He continued to show his budding chemistry with Goran Dragic and also worked well with Beno Udrih. Thanks to Bosh’s balanced approach, he put a lot of pressure on Washington’s defense and shot 8-of-15 from the field. While 13 of his 23 points came in the first half, Bosh scored seven straight points to start the fourth and essentially ice the game. In addition to his 23 points, Bosh also grabbed seven rebounds and dished out three assists in the contest.
2. Dominating Defense
The complexion of the game changed in the second quarter when the HEAT locked in defensively. Thanks to that suffocating defense by Miami, Washington scored just seven points in the period. In all, the HEAT forced the Wizards to shoot just 34.1 percent.
A big reason why they had success was because they did a great job of keeping Washington, mainly John Wall, out of the paint. Whenever the Wizards did get inside, Hassan Whiteside was usually there to wreak havoc. The center swatted six shots on Sunday night, including four alone on Marcin Gortat. His most impressive sequence came towards the beginning of the third when he had blocks on two straight possessions. The first one came against Garrett Temple attacking the rim and the second one was his fourth block on Gortat in which he had to cover a lot of ground.
View the Blocks
Whiteside totaled six points and 13 rebounds to go along with his six blocks on the night.
3. Speed Kills
The HEAT made a point to get out in transition in the first half against the Wizards and tallied eight fast break points through two quarters thanks to their solid defense. Naturally, Dragic pushed tempo often both off turnovers and long rebounds.
His most impressive finish came just as the third quarter was coming to a close. The play started when Tyler Johnson pinned Wall’s layup attempt to the backboard. Justise Winslow grabbed the rebound and threw it ahead to Dragic down court. Dragic then sped past Ramon Sessions and got the layup to go before time expired in the quarter.
View the Play
That play came just after Johnson scored seven straight points. He did a decent amount of damage off catch-and-shoot corner threes and finished the game with 10 points and seven rebounds on 50 percent shooting.
Dragic, meanwhile, tallied 18 points and five assists on 8-of-14 shooting.
Other Takeaways:
-While Winslow was understandably a little rusty on the offensive end, he was up to his usual tricks on defense. He displayed great defensive pressure and had this great block in transition on Wall. The rookie also tallied a plus-15 rating.
Game Notes: Josh McRoberts (knee) sat out. Jarnell Stokes was also inactive.
