The Washington Wizards have been on a recent home losing stretch with a record of 1-8 in their recent home games. The Miami Heat were in town this weekend and what would most people expect? Probably that the Heat would have their way with the home team; that was not the case.
The Wizards brought the Heat (no pun intended) this game, closing the first quarter with a whopping score of 43-18. The Wizards were rolling on all cylinders and they were hot. Washington big man, Nene Hilario, had a great game, scoring 19 points, 9 assists, 4 rebounds, 3 blocks and 2 steals. Trevor Booker provided a spark off the bench with 13 points and also did a better-than-expected job on guarding LeBron James.
John Wall dazzled throughout the game from start to finish, besides the careless turnovers, delivering an all-star performance for the home team and silencing the 8,000 or so “bandwagon” Miami fans in attendance. He really came alive in the 4th quarter when Miami was getting close. Shooting guard, Bradley Beal played a good too, scoring 19 points on 7 for 13 shooting from the floor.
Miami couldn’t get over the first quarter blowout this game. Shane Battier, Dwayne Wade and Ray Allen played terrible. The scored 3, 8 and 0 points respectively. Ray Allen was on the court for over 25 minutes and scored 0 points! That is not something you see everyday. LeBron James had a very slow start to the game, only scoring 4 points in the quarter. This was surprising after he made a comment earlier this week insinuating that he was going to light the Wizards up. He finished the game with 25 points, 8 rebounds, 7 assists, and 2 steals. Not bad for Mr. James, but nothing outside of his typical box score.
One of the major highlights for the Heat was the play of Greg Oden. This was the first time in four years that the former number one overall pick and Ohio State Buckeye played an NBA game. He finished with 6 points and 2 rebounds in a little over 8 minutes of play. It was good to see him running the floor and getting above the rim.
Were the Heat possibly feeling a “championship hangover” from their visit to the White House on Tuesday? Or was this Wizards performance for real and could they possibly be a threat to the top teams if they’re all rolling?
The Wizards were able to snap a home losing streak and hand Miami their third straight loss.
The final score was 114-97, Wizards.