Washington Falls to Miami 113-105
Some second-half magic came to an end late in the fourth quarter as the Wizards fell 113-105 to the Miami Heat.
Washington was without three key players: Monte Morris, Rui Hachimura, and Bradley Beal. On the other side, Miami had Tyler Herro and Bam Adebayo (both missed the last meeting between these two teams) back in their lineup.
It was a super slow first half for the Wizards, getting outscored 17-32 in the second quarter. This set up for a storming third quarter, in which, the Wiz were able to score 37 points to the 23 the Heat netted.
The absence of Brad meant that rookie guard, Jordan Goodwin, got his first career NBA start in the loss. Goodwin had a quiet night, only dropping 8 points and 3 assists. This missing of Beal also led to the Wizards shooting a defective 26% from beyond the arc.
It was anything but a quiet night for Kyle Kuzma. Despite struggling from deep once again, Kuz was able to lead the team with 33 points, 20 of which came in the second half. He didn’t have to dish the ball out, as he was the focal point of the offense, resulting in only one assist for Kyle.
some tough buckets from kuz ? pic.twitter.com/GV8Jg9UGSe
— Washington Wizards (@WashWizards) November 24, 2022
The paint in the first half seemed wide open for Bam, who put 11 of his 15 points in the basket. He also was able to haul in 7 of his 11 rebounds on the night in the first half. However, Porzingis and the Wiz finally found a way to bottle the paint up, allowing Kristaps to bring in 9 rebounds and add 21 points on the night. Alongside Porzingis, Deni Avdija had a very productive night, only one rebound away from a triple-double, as he had 12 points, 10 assists, and 9 rebounds.
For Miami, it was Kyle Lowry who had another big night against Washington, putting up a team-high 28 points in the win. However, what killed the Wizards was Caleb Martin, who was feeling himself from downtown, hitting 4 of his 9 shots from beyond the arc. Martin finished the night with 24 points, 2 steals, and 9 rebounds.
Washington is now 10-8, sitting 6th in the Eastern Conference. They will play on the other side of Thanksgiving against the Heat once more. Tip-off will be at 8 pm EST.
