Miami Heat continues to win after dominating Wizards
Photo from: NBA.com
As this season progresses, the Miami Heat has emerged as the No. 1 team in their division. Last night in a primetime matchup versus the Washington Wizards, they won the matchup 121-100 and are on a three-game-winning streak.
The Wizards didn’t have their star Bradley Beal yesterday because of his injury with a sprained ligament in his left wrist. Despite not having Beal, Wizards’ rookie Corey Kispert emerged as the leading scoring for the team with 20 points, his career-high, but still wasn’t enough to fend off the Heat.
Seven Heat players were in double-digits last night with Bam Adebayo leading the team with 21 points, Jimmy Butler (19 pts), Kyle Lowry (11 points), Duncan Robinson (12 pts), Gabe Vincent (16 pts), Caleb Martin (15 pts), and Dwayne Dedmon (11 points). The production by the bench unit shows the depth of the team with bench players like Vincent, Martin, Dedmon, and Robinson being key contributors to the win while a player like Tyler Herro is out. About Herro, he is currently out with a sore knee injury after a fall and collision on Sunday’s game versus the Hornets.
Herro says his return will have some delays due to taking precautionary measures. He spoke out about his update on the potential timetable to return from injury.
“It’s all right,” Herro said Monday after shootaround at Georgetown University. “I should be fine either tonight or for the next game. Just a little soreness with my knee. Just want to be careful. I’m probably going to be out [Monday] if I had to choose right now. Nothing long-term, hopefully. Just soreness in my knee and I’ll be fine hopefully for the next game.”
The Heat never trailed in the game with zero lead changes and has only one tie in the fourth quarter with 30-30, which was mostly bench players are on the floor. It happened with the Heat’s 3-point shooting with 18 for 32 (56.3%), defensive efforts on the perimeter, and the ball movement.
Head coach Erik Spoelstra praised the efforts by Adebayo with scoring 14 points in the third on the road. Spoelstra like the offensive aggressiveness by going after second-chance baskets, rebounding, and attacking the paint.
''Bam on this road trip has been making some great plays in knowing when to go aggressive and score and knowing when to find somebody else for an easy basket,'' Miami coach Erik Spoelstra said. ''That's always a tough balance when you're a great player.''
With claiming the 1st seed of the Eastern Conference with a 34-20 record, the Heat are not currently looking to make any trade before the deadline this Thursday despite the rumors.
Positive news for the Heat as they head into the All-Star break in one week is Spoelstra will be coaching the NBA All-Star game for Team Durant on Feb. 20 in Cleveland.
This Thursday, the Heat will visit the New Orleans Pelicans and is on a six-game road trip with a record of 3-2.
