Miami Heat humble Washington Wizards 106 – 89; Big Three dominate – NBA Recap(Part 2)
The Washington Wizards came out of the interval with fire in their belly. The home side wasn’t prepared to lay down for the super stars of Miami Heat and it showed as they battled hard in the 3rd period. An 11 – 0 run by the Wizards, starting
near the half way mark, wiped away the Heat’s advantage and brought the scores to within touching distance, 62 – 61 to Miami. Washington though failed to carry on the momentum and the Heat were able to increase the gap again, ending the period 74 – 67.
A 9 – 1 blitz to start off the penultimate quarter by Miami crushed Wizards hopes of a revival at the death. Miami carried the double-digit advantage almost throughout the segment, even increasing it as the clock winded down. They were able to get ahead
by more than 20 points before the Wizards reduced the gap a little, but it still ended with a one sided score line 106 – 89.
Miami’s head coach Erik Spoelstra also enjoyed the show, but he didn’t want it to overshadow the larger picture. The tactician made it clear after the game that although the Heat were pleasing on the eye, he wouldn’t mind if some of the more outlandish acts
were taken out of their game.
"We want to be efficient, and that's the most important thing," Spoelstra said. "And we were able to get some of those opportunities there in the second quarter. I think that last one was probably where we needed to be a little bit more judicious about it
and try to get the score - there was also one of those in the fourth quarter.”
LeBron James didn’t necessarily agree with his coach. Although James understands the importance of being professional and efficient, he pointed out that the Heat had been playing like this most of the time this season, so it wasn’t exactly something out
of the ordinary anymore.
"I think we're probably 90 percent on the alley-oops this year," James said. "Either him-to-me or me-to-him, so we don't have to be worried about getting too carried away."
The Heat dominated on the stats side as well. They were much more lethal with their shooting, connecting on 49.4 percent from the floor compared to 38.2 percent for the Wizards. The Wizards were also dismal from beyond the arc and from the charity stripe;
19 percent and 60.7 percent respectively. Miami meanwhile shot 33.3 percent from downtown and 91.3 percent from the free throw line. They also had more points in the paint and rebounds.
The likes of JaVale McGee and John Wall still have time to learn and will get better. Dwyane Wade, LeBron and Bosh though are already in their prime and looking increasingly dangerous with each passing game.
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