The Miami HEAT defeated the Washington Wizards 106-95 Tuesday night at Verizon Center. Hassan Whiteside led the way for the HEAT with 20 points.
1. Whiteside Feasts
Hassan Whiteside was simply in a different gear against the Wizards. Early on, the 27-year-old dominated in the paint, in large part due to his ability to set effective screens.
A perfect example of that came with 5:12 to go in the first period when Whiteside set a screen for Goran Dragić at the right elbow and rolled to the hoop. Dragić then found the big man with a nice lob, which Whiteside slammed home with ease.
Otherwise in the contest, the former Marshall standout knocked down a few jumpers, ran the floor well for a great finish in transition and protected the rim.
In addition to his 20 points on 9-of-12 shooting, Whiteside also led the team with 13 rebounds and three blocks.
2. Waiters Serves It Up
It’s no secret that there are plenty of new faces on the HEAT. On Tuesday, a lot of those guys showed what they could do to help the team win. Dion Waiters took it to the rack and facilitated well for others, James Johnson slashed to the rim and defended with purpose and Luke Babbitt nailed catch-and-shoot 3-pointers.
Waiters was particularly impressive in the third quarter, causing the defense to collapse on drive-and-kick setups for Babbitt and Justise Winslow in consecutive trips down the floor.
While that was great, business picked up in the fourth quarter. Waiters carved the Wizards’ defense for two consecutive jams en-route to an eight-point fourth period. In all, the 24-year-old tallied 12 points on 6-of-10 shooting and a team-high eight assists.
3. Winslow Looks Ready
While it was just the first preseason game, Winslow looked primed for a successful sophomore season. Throughout the game, the 20-year-old showed an improved stroke from outside and continued to bottle up the opposition on the defensive end.
Winslow also made some plays on the break, with perhaps his best one midway through the first quarter.
With 6:48 left in the first, Whiteside met Marcin Gortat at the apex and blocked his shot. From there, Dragić came up with the ball and threw it up ahead to Winslow, who threw down the one-handed tomahawk jam.
The former Duke Blue Devil finished with 12 points on 5-of-8 shooting, three assists and two boards.
4. Fast Pace
With Dragić leading the charge, most people believed the HEAT would get out in transition early and often. That’s exactly what transpired against Washington, as Miami totaled 19 fast break points on the evening.
The most encouraging part of that was the whole team looked to push the pace rather than just one or two players.
Other Takeaways:
-Like in Summer League play, Brianté Weber continued to show tenacity on both ends of the floor. One of his more impressive plays came early on in the contest.
With 4:47 to go in the second quarter, Weber attacked the basket from the right wing thanks to a good screen from Udonis Haslem. Because of that, Gortat approached the point guard and attempted to impede his progress. However, Weber got past the center and converted the nifty reverse layup.
The 23-year-old finished with four points, five assists, three rebounds and two steals in 21 minutes of action.
Game Note:
-Stefan Janković (sprained right foot), Josh McRoberts (right foot), Josh Richardson (right MCL sprain) and Beno Udrih (back) sat out.