NBA Match Preview: Miami Heat vs. Washington Wizards
The Southeast division toppers meet the division losers tonight as Washington Wizards visit Miami to take on Miami Heat tonight. Meeting for the second time this season, the Wizards host the Heat tonight at the Verizon Centre.
Standing at a win loss mark of 20-8 this season, the Heat are standing on an eleven game winning streak looking to extend it to an all time season high of twelve tonight.
The Heat opened this week with a twelve-point margin win over the New Orleans Hornets sending the latter back home with a 96-84 on the scoreboard. The Heat then hosted the Cleveland Cavaliers on Tuesday. In a six-point win over
the Cavaliers, the Heat moved to a 2-0 mark for the week. On Friday, the Heat only extended this mark after visiting New York and defeating the New York Knicks. Enjoying an untainted mark in the week so far, the Heat look to close the week at 4-0 by defeating
the Wizards tonight.
Scoring 32 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists with 60.9 shot percentage; LeBron James led the Heat to a 113-91 win against the Knicks registering his 30th career triple-double. Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh also contributed
with twenty-six points each. James is currently averaging 24.2 points per game with 7.3 assists and 6.4 rebounds so far this season.
Talking to the press after the game, James said,
"Our goal is to play well every night. It starts on the defensive end with us. When we defend, we're a very, very dangerous team. We just try to wear teams down. Use our athleticism. Use our quickness. Use our defensive strategies to wear teams down."
The Heat’s strong defensive play is probably the biggest factor in their recent winning streak, which coincidentally started with their win over the Wizards last month. In their last eleven games, the Heat have held their opponents
to an average of 86.0 points and 39.4 percent from the field - 26.8 from 3-point range.
Given the Wizards’ recent performance, it will come as no surprise if the Heat extend their winning streak tonight. Trailing the Eastern Conference standings, the Wizards are standing at a 6-18 win loss mark for the season.
The worst defensive team in the league this season, the Wizards have given up an average of 105.8 points. With two losses this week, the Wizards extended their slide to six games.
Their latest defeat came on Thursday when the Wizards visited New Jersey to play the Nets. In an eight-point margin, Nets sent the Wizards packing with the scoreboard showing 97-89. Although Gilbert Arenas scored 19 points with
nine assists, it still was not enough to lead the Wizards to a victory against the Nets. With John Wall’s and Andray Blatche’s status unclear for tonight’s game, the pressure will surely fall on Arenas’ shoulders tonight. Wall and Blatche have both missed
games due to knee problems.
Enjoying the home court advantage, the Wizards sport an acceptable 6-5 at home; however, defeating the Heat tonight might require much more than just the home advantage. Leading the head-to-head 1-0, Heat enjoy both the statistical
and psychological advantage in tonight’s matchup. Will Heat extend their lead to 2-0? Or will the Wizards snap their losing streak and level the head to head?
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