WASHINGTON, D.C. – After defeating the Cleveland Cavailers in an emotional, hard fought game on Thursday night, the Washington Wizards had to counter another tough foe in the Miami Heat.

 

The end result would not be the same as their previous game as they lost to the Heat, 118-104, in front of a capacity crowd at the Verizon Center.

Washington gave Miami a battle for about three quarters, and were down by three to start the final period; however, that would soon change. At the 10:48 mark, the Wizards came within one of the lead – 83-82 – and there was a chance that the Wizards could pull off another upset, but the talented shooters on the Heat would squash that notion.

Miami would soon score nine points in a span of two minutes – thanks to two three pointers by James Jones, who was left wide open one too many times, and a 17-foot shot from Mario Chalmers – to expand their lead to 91-82. After that, the Heat would shoot 3-pointers often, hitting six more before the end of the game for a franchise record eight in the fourth quarter. When all was said and done, Washington’s deficit in the fourth quarter grew from one point to 17 and they seemingly looked powerless despite a valiant effort to keep up with their opponents.

Whether the Wizards had the energy sucked out of them by the Cavaliers, or if they could not muster the skillful shooting of the Heat late, it didn’t matter. Miami scored 38 points in the final quarter, and was what once a close game became a slaughter.

They could not stop that Heat, and the Wizards were just a tad daunted.

"Anytime a team shoots the ball like that, you just have to tip your hat to them," quipped Brandon Haywood, Washington’s center. "Diawara and Wade were hitting 3's from nowhere. Those guys are good 3-point shooters. They couldn't miss tonight and that hurt us."

The duo of Caron Butler and Antwan Jamison – who scored 27 and 23 points, respectively – kept Washington in the game before trailing late. Brandon Haywood had 18 points and 12 rebounds.

Dwayne Wade led the playoff bound Miami Heat with 33 points, leading all scorers. Yakhouba Diawara and Jermaine O’Neal had 16 points each.

Washington stumbled out of the gate early in the first quarter; therefore, Miami scored the first seven points of the game and started it off of a 13-4 run. However, the Wizards clawed back thanks to the contribution of Brandon Haywood – who had 10 points in that time frame – to end the first quarter down by two, 30-28.

Miami, in the second quarter, once again started out hot, and Washington’s deficit soon grew from only two to eighteen as All-Star Dwayne Wade scored nine points in the period. The Wizards would close in on their lead; however, they were down at the half, 62-52.

The Wizards would not waver as they stormed back in the third quarter, as they would go on a 13-5 run to end the period down, 80-77, to Miami.

Gilbert Arenas sat out Saturday night, as he is trying to recover from knee surgery, so his absence was planned. Sadly, the Wizards could have used him. In his place, Javaris Crittenton – who missed Thursday night with back spasms – started.

They would be hit by the injury bug again as Juan Dixon would restrain his Achilles tendon after sitting out six games, and Nick Young left the game in the first quarter due to getting tangled up in a race for a loose ball. However, it looks like the injury to Young is not serious.

Washington will try to get back on the winning track as they take on the Cleveland Cavaliers on the road Wednesday night at 7:00 PM.