It took an extra five minutes, but the Wizards grinded out an important win over the Heat on Tuesday night, 117-113. Led by Bradley Beal's 30 points, six rebounds, seven assists, 12-of-16 overall shooting, and six 3-pointers, the Wizards finished their tough home stand with an overtime win.
Washington shot 50.6% and made 14-of-24 (58.3%) 3-pointers on the night. The Wizards forced 15 Heat turnovers for 23 points, but turned it over 19 times themselves for 29 Heat points. Still, the Wizards were able to overcome their miscues with 12 second chance points and making 23-of-27 free throw attempts.
The Wizards came out scoring at will early, opening up a 13-2 run on 5-of-7 shooting. Washington would build on that lead to go up 27-9 with five 3-pointers, but the Heat used a 17-4 run to cut the lead to five by the end of the first quarter.
he Heat would tie the game at 39-39 after a 30-12 run, with their bench leading the way. The Wizards came back with a 13-4 run of their own, taking a 59-50 lead at the half. Washington shot 54.1% in the first 24 minutes, 7-of-11 from beyond the arc, and made 12-of-13 free throws. Miami only made 3-of-11 triples and 11-of-16 free throws while shooting 42.9%.
Beal led the Wizards with 15 points and four assists in the first half, while Tomas Satoransky added 11 points and five assists. Markieff Morris, who finished with 16 points and 13 rebounds, also gave Washington a big boost in the paint and Mike Scott provided a spark off the bench with eight points in 12 minutes in the first half.
The Heat's Tyler Johnson led Miami with 12 of his 21 points in the first half and Dwyane Wade had eight points of his own in the first. The Heat's bench outscored its starters 29-21 in the first half and 64-49 overall in the game.
Miami came right back into the game with a 9-2 run to begin the second half, converting on the Wizards' seven turnovers in the third quarter. Josh Richardson led the Heat with eight points in the third, but the Wizards shot 61.1% in the quarter to keep it a six-point game after three.
Wade hit a baseline turnaround jumper and drew a foul to give the Heat its first lead of the game with 9:38 to go. The Wizards would come back with an 8-0 run thanks to back-to-back triples from Kelly Oubre Jr. and Otto Porter Jr. Beal would score two big buckets to give the Wizards an 105-100 lead with 1:54 left. Down five, the Heat were unable to convert on a possession in which they had three offensive rebounds. Still, Miami got a few stops and were able to find a way to tie the game late on a Wade and-one finger roll layup. Beal missed a 20-foot stepback as time expired, and the game went to overtime.
In overtime, both teams struggled to get anything offensively as free throws became extremely important. Marcin Gortat drew a key charge with 1:36 left, followed by a 3-pointer by Morris to give the Wizards a four-point lead with 1:07 left, which caused the Heat to play catch-up the rest of the way. The Heat had a chance down two points with 10.2 seconds left, but Wade missed a point-blank floater to tie it. Oubre, who finished with 14 points, would make two clutch free throws to extend the Wizards' lead to four with 1.8 seconds left and put the game away for good.
“I was a little nervous with D-Wade floater because it was a good move, he was right at the rim," Beal said after the game. "I think Keef [Markieff Morris] buzzed him a little bit and he ended up shooting it a little bit higher than he probably would have shot it after. It was definitely a little nerve wrecking, but I’m glad we were able to secure the rebound.”
"It was two competitive teams [and] we both fought," Scott Brooks said after the win. "It's one of those games that someone is going to have to come away with a loss. We've been in those situations, it feels like, the last three games in a row on our home floor. We made enough right plays at the end. Kelly [Oubre] really stepped up and made those two free throws and I thought he did a good job of doing that. But it was a competitive game [and] two teams were fighting for playoff position."
“We lost a couple close games, the past games," Morris said. "We should have taken care of business before overtime, but a win is a win and we will take it.”
Ramon Sessions made his season debut for the Wizards, scoring six points in 13-plus minutes. Brooks praised him for drawing two key fouls and making all four free throws after the game.
Porter, who had 12 points, five rebounds, and five assists, left the game with a bruised hip in the fourth quarter and did not return. He is considered day-to-day.
"The play, I thought he got hit on it," Brooks said postgame about Porter. "Bruised hip. We'll see how he feels tomorrow. I think it was his right side. Day-to-day, don't know much until we see how he feels tomorrow morning at practice at 11 [a.m.] tomorrow."
The Wizards have now guaranteed at least a share of the season series with the Heat, with the season series finale coming on Saturday in Miami. Before then, the Wizards will play in New Orleans on Friday night in the first of a Pelicans-Heat back-to-back over the weekend.
“We just gotta keep pushing forward," Morris explained. "It was another close game. We see those guys in another three days or so. We just gotta try do some of the stuff that we did tonight to try and get this win when we play them on a back to back and try and go to New Orleans. They are a hot team right now. Also, so we just gotta slow them down and get two road wins.”