Heat Aim To Keep Defense A Priority Vs. Wizards
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WASHINGTON, D.C. (SportsDirect Inc.) -- The Washington Wizards are coming off their finest offensive performance of the young season, just in time to go up against a team coming off its best defensive effort.
The Wizards will try to carry over the momentum on the offensive end when they host the Miami Heat on Saturday.
Washington shot 54.3 percent from the floor and hit a season high for points in a 119-112 win over the New York Knicks on Thursday that featured a 15-of-25 effort from 3-point range.
"We had it clicking on offense tonight but defensively, that's something we can control every night. That's just a matter of effort," shooting guard Bradley Beal told the Washington Post. "As long as we just continue to do that and continue to play with confidence on offense, we'll be all right."
The Heat did not reach 100 points in any of the last seven games but stopped a six-game slide by turning up the effort on the defensive end in a 96-73 win over the Milwaukee Bucks on Thursday.
Miami held the Bucks to 25 points in the second half and 32.9 percent from the field overall.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, FSN Sun (Miami), CSN Mid-Atlantic (Washington)
ABOUT THE HEAT (3-8): Leading the charge on the defensive end, as usual, was center Hassan Whiteside, who recorded seven blocks to go with 17 rebounds and 12 points in his 10th double-double. "There's two different kinds of coaches and teams," Whiteside told reporters. "There's coaches that say, 'Hassan Whiteside is down there, don't attack him.' And then there are coaches that say, 'Hassan Whiteside is down there, let's attack him.' God bless those teams. Long live those teams. I need more of those teams." Whiteside leads the NBA in rebounding (16 per game) and ranks second in blocks (2.73) behind New Orleans' Anthony Davis.
ABOUT THE WIZARDS (3-8): Washington point guard John Wall, who underwent surgery on both knees over the summer, played in both ends of a back-to-back for the first time this season on Wednesday and Thursday and did not appear limited in the second game. Wall recorded 23 points on 7-of-14 shooting and added 11 assists in 31 minutes in the win after scoring 27 points in 24 minutes at Philadelphia the previous night. His best number in those two games might have been the "two" in the turnovers category in the box score of both contests, which matched a season low.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Beal (hamstring) returned from a three-game absence on Thursday and scored 18 points in 29 minutes.
2. Miami SF Justise Winslow (wrist) sat out the last two games and is day-to-day.
3. Washington took five of the last seven in the series, including three of four at home.
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