Lebron James helps Miami Heat to 123–107 win over the Washington Wizards
Miami’s Big Three combined for 94 points on the night and LeBron James scored a game-high 35 points, as the Miami Heat thrashed the Washington Wizards 123-107 at the Verizon Centre in Washington on Wednesday night.
Miami kept their composure to register a hard-fought win despite the ejection of John Wall, Juwan Howard and Zydrunas Ilgauskas after they got tangled up in a scuffle.
The Big Three once again combined for a season-high 94 points, as they replicated the same success they had against the Houston Rockets in a record-setting performance on Sunday.
LeBron finished with 35 points, eight rebounds, eight assists and five steals to lead the Heat. Dwyane Wade scored 33 points and nine assists, while Chris Bosh added 26 points and eight rebounds in the victory. James Jones’ 12 points on 4-of-5 shooting from
beyond the arc were a welcome contribution from an otherwise quiet Miami bench.
Miami shot an impressive 58 percent from the field but failed to write off the Wizards until late in the game.
After a close contest in the first quarter, the Heat had a 32-29 lead heading into the second. A fight broke out in the second quarter between John Wall and the 7ft 3in Zydrunas Ilgauskas. Replays suggested that Big-Z elbowed Wall, before the Washington
rookie responded with a right-hand jab into Ilgauskas’s ribs.
JaVale McGee dived in to separate the two as Juwan Howard was busy shoving the Washington players around. Heat Coach Erik Spoelstra also had to step in momentarily to restore order within his team. Both Ilgauskas and Wall’s conduct was termed unacceptable
by the officiating staff and the duo was ejected from the game after it was deemed that they had committed flagrant-2 fouls.
LeBron James said after the game, "What did I see? I see two guys trying to be aggressive and things got out of hand, but it's part of the game. Elbows is part of the game."
After the game resumed, Miami got right back to work, and outscored the Wizards 31–23 in the second period to take a comfortable 11-point lead into half time. Washington fought back in the fourth quarter to make it 91-90 with over nine minutes to play.
However, Miami hit back with shots from all over the floor to seal victory in the contest.
Rookie Jordan Crawford had a fantastic night for the Wizards, adding 26 of his career-high 39 points in the second half to make Miami’s Big Three work hard for their win. Crawford was 5-of-8 from beyond the arc and perfect from the free-throw line as he
filled in during John Wall’s absence.
Maurice Evans scored 21 points; Othyus Jeffers had 15 points and eight rebounds, while JaVale McGee chipped in for the Wizards with 12 points and four blocks.
According to James, the game got too aggressive later on, after the ejections. He was hit with a technical foul for arguing a call with an official after he was fouled hard in the fourth quarter. James believed the strong foul by the Wizard’s Maurice Evans
warranted a call for a flagrant foul.
Commenting on the foul, James said, "I don't know if Mo Evans intentionally wants to be dirty. I watch a lot of basketball. I see a lot of basketball every day, and anytime when someone gets grabbed around the neck, it's an automatic flagrant-1."
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