WASHINGTON (NBA.com exclusive) --  Two years ago, the Miami Heat suffered through a 15-win season with franchise player Dwyane Wade plagued by injury.

Last year Miami pulled off a dramatic turnaround as a healthy, MVP-contending Wade returned the Heat to the ranks of the league's contenders and earned Miami the fifth seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs.

This year the Washington Wizards, who played host to the Heat on Wednesday, are out to prove they too are capable of a big turnaround. But first they'll have to escape the injury bug, which is proving easier said than done.

Despite 32 points from Gilbert Arenas, the Wizards had no answer for Wade in their 93-89 loss to the Heat on Wednesday night. Wade finished with 40 points, five assists, four rebounds and two blocks.

What's worse, the Wizards lost yet another starter as shooting guard Mike Miller went down with a sprained shoulder with 8:35 left in the fourth quarter.

The Wizards already are without two-time All-Star Antawn Jamison, who led them in scoring and rebounding the last two seasons. He suffered a partially dislocated right shoulder Oct. 14 and is expected to be out another two weeks.

Miller, acquired from Minnesota in an offseason trade involving the Wizards' No. 5 pick in the Draft, was initially hurt during a collision in the third quarter. After a brief stretch, he took a hard foul and landed on his shoulder again and further aggravated the injury. Miller left for the rest of the night with 8:35 left in the quarter and was holding his left arm tightly to his side. Wizards coach Flip Saunders said he will be out seven to 10 days.

Until the Wizards get Jamison back, it's more plugging in pieces for Saunders, whose toughest challenge to this point has been integrating his system while also getting the Wizards to trust each other.

"Our players want to have success and when the team is struggling, they believe sometimes that they're going to be the one to get you out of it, and so maybe they're trying to do too much," Saunders said. "And by doing that, when the next guy gets it, he's like 'I'm going to do that, because I might not get another chance.' And when that happens, you start to play more 'me' than 'we' ball. You just have to continue to make sure you play we-basketball."

The Wizards have taken a different approach on their redemption quest than Miami, acquiring Miller and Randy Foye via trade and signing a third veteran in Fabricio Oberto as a free agent.

The Heat last season used the Draft to add key pieces in Mario Chalmers and Michael Beasley. They too added a veteran via trade when they acquired Jermaine O'Neal from Toronto in a mid-season deal for Shawn Marion. The result was a 43-win season and playoff series with Atlanta, which they lost 4-3.

Now the Heat are trying to take the next step, which they believe offseason addition Quentin Richardson will help them do.

Richardson had his best game yet with Miami on Wednesday. The sharpshooter scored 19 points (highlighted by a 5-for-7 performance from 3-point range) and grabbed nine rebounds.