Once again, the Wizards offered little resistance on defense.
A couple nights ago the Philadelphia 76ers scored 153 in regulation over the little defense the Wizards offered. As the game today evolved the only interesting question seemed to be whether the Heat will break that threshold or not. At halftime, the Miami Heat were right on pace: scoring 77 points. If they could match that in the second half, they would arrive at 154!
Alas, the Wizards did not come out of the locker room after half-time
with any more determination, as they ceded 45 points in the 3rd quarter alone. But maybe one of those patented “comebacks from behind” in the 4th quarter?
Nah, with 6 minutes left in the 4th, the scoreboard showed 118-140 for the hosts, as they were on pace to break the 153 threshold!
But, at last, the Wizards were able to keep the Heat to only 30 points in that final frame, and as the game ended the scoreboard proclaimed 136-152 in favor the Heat.
Some bright spots for the Wizards were:
Will Riley was the best starter in terms of plus/minus, with only -3. Actually, he played well. Made 12 of his 17 field goals, and scored 31 points in 37 minutes! It’s probably much thanks to him that the loss was only by 16 points.
Also, Sharife Cooper and Jamir Watkins were great in garbage time, with 20 (3-for-5 from deep) and 14 (2-for-4 from deep) points each.
For the Heat, Jaquez Jr. had 32 points in 32 minutes, off the bench! Did we already say candidate for 6th man of the year?
The Wizards now head to Brooklyn for another matinee game, tomorrow.
