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The Miami Heat will be visiting the Washington Wizards at 7:00 at the Verizon Center in the Chinatown District of Washington D.C. Tonight will have the frequent foes match up for the first of four contests this season, and the first of two in DC. They will play again in Miami on December 15th.
The Heat will be interrupting a 10 game homestand with this one road game. The Heat is coming off a four game homestand (all victories), most recently a 13 point win over the Brooklyn Nets. Afterward, the Heat will be headed back home to face six teams in South Beach (not at the same time), the New York Knicks, the New Orleans Hornets, the Atlanta Hawks, the Golden State Warriors, the a reprise with the Wizards, and the Minnesota Timberwolves.
The Wizards are between road games. They dropped a 21 point decision to the Knicks on Friday and are off to face the Hawks this coming Friday.
These two last met on April 26th to close out the NBA's regular season. The Wizards went off on Miami's extended bench, winning by 34 in Washington DC. Here's the NBA.COM partial recap:
The Miami Heat rested LeBron James, Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh for the second straight game and were blown out by the Washington Wizards 104-70 on Thursday night.
Mo Evans had a season-high 18 points, Nene and Kevin Seraphin had 15 and John Wall had seven points and 12 assists for Washington, which won its sixth straight game. It's their longest winning streak since Nov. 2007.
The Wizards led by 10 after the first quarter, 25 at halftime and by 30 after three. They led by as many as 38 in the fourth quarter. Norris Cole led Miami with 14 points.
Heat forward Shane Battier spoke afterward about keeping the blowout in perspective:
"If we land safely and the plane touches down in Miami, it's a victory. That was a nasty game. Luckily no one was injured. Seriously, that's what you take away from this game."
For the Wizards point of view, check out Bullets Forever.
Miami is coming off a 13 point win over the Brooklyn Nets on Saturday night. Here's the partial NBA.COM recap:
The Miami Heat defeated the Brooklyn Nets 102-89 Saturday night at AmericanAirlines Arena.
Guard Dwyane Wade scored a season-high 34 points and had seven assists to lead the Heat. The Heat trailed most of the first half before taking control in the third quarter. Miami shot 51 percent against a Nets team that had held opponents to 90 points a game.
With Wade handling the scoring load, LeBron James was able to have somewhat of an off night. James finished with 21 points on 8 of 15 shooting. He also had nine rebounds and six assists.
The Heat rallied from a 14-point, first-half deficit behind the play of James and Wade. They also received a lift off the bench from Ray Allen (13 points) and Norris Cole (12 points).
The Nets were led by Andray Blatche, who finished with a team-high 20 points and eight rebounds.
Heat coach Erik Spoelstra spoke after the game about the Heat and their very good second half showing:
"This was a step forward game for us. It was good to see our guys connected again. We didn't necessarily play great basketball in the first half but in the some ways this was our best win. This was our best game in terms of connection, communication and commitment to each other."
For the Nets perspective, check out NetsDaily.
The Wizards are coming off a 21 point blowout loss to the New York Knicks on Friday night. NBA.COM has the recap:
J.R. Smith put up 20 points and six assists off the bench and Carmelo Anthony also added 20 points as the Knicks won their second straight, 108-87 over the Washington Wizards Friday night at Madison Square Garden.
The Knicks (11-4) improved to 6-0 at home to start a season for the first time since 1992-93, when they won 60 games.
Tyson Chandler added a double-double of 12 points and 10 rebounds, Ronnie Brewer had 12 points and Raymond Felton scored 11.
For the Wizards (1-13), Jordan Crawford had 17 points off the bench, Bradley Beal added 14 and Kevin Seraphin scored 13.
Check out Posting and Toasting for the Knicks way of looking at it.
Game Time: 7:00 PM ET
Current Odds: Miami by -11
All-Time Series: 67-30, .691, favor Miami
Season Series: 0-0
Standings:
Miami Heat: 12-3, first in the Southeast Division, first in the Eastern Conference, tied for first in the NBA. Last five: W-W-W-W-W. On pace for 66-16. Current odds of making the postseason: 98.8%
Washington Wizards: 1-13, fifth in the Southeast Division, 15th in the Eastern Conference, 30th in the NBA. Last five: L-L-L-W-L. On pace for 6-76. Current odds of making the postseason: 1.3%
For more on the Heat, check out Hot Hot Hoops.