Washington visits Miami with a heavy heart

DeShawn Stevenson tries to stand his ground against
Olympic Gold Medalist Dwyane Wade. Easy check, right?
(AP Photo/Nick Wass)

While the Wizards challenge the Heat tonight in Miami, Washington plays host to the funeral proceedings of the late Abe Pollin this morning.  Washington has not been able to stop the Heat's Dwyane Wade, who averages 40.5 points per game against Washington after two games this season.

The post-Thanksgiving Wizards squad has survived chemistry issues, Gilbert Arenas call-outs, and enough injuries to fill a whole hospital wing.  The death of Wizards owner Abe Pollin has to put things in perspective for this team, and for the longer tenured players such as Brendan Haywood and Antawn Jamison, now is the time to make the push for .500 with winnable games against the Heat tonight and the Charlotte Bobcats tomorrow night.

The Heat represent one of the more talented teams in the NBA, and sit on a 9-5 record.  Washington, 4-9 on the season after their escape from the Sixers last Tuesday, is still a work in progress.  While Caron Butler is questionable for tonight's contest, Washington can breathe a little easier after Nick Young's 20 point break-out performance against Philadelphia.  Coach Flip Saunders has played Young in his native shooting guard role this season but has also played Young in the role of small forward, and is expected to start Young again tonight.

The Heat might see the return of Quentin Richardson, who Washington limited to 0 points in 33 minutes the last time these two teams met (by the way, if you get tired of the official NBA boxscores, which are overloaded with content now that the NBA has finished their TV Companion integration, a great source is Basketball Reference).  A healthy Richardson can mean trouble in an instant if Washington continues to play their poor perimeter defense.

The main concern for Washington remains Dwyane Wade, who has found no trouble scoring on this Wizards squad.  Neither Young or Arenas excel as on-ball defenders, and Washington will have to play very well as a team to corral Wade early on in tonight's game if they hope to get a W.

Tonight's game starts at 7:00 p.m. ET and will air on Comcast SportsNet and 106.7 The Fan.  The game will also air nationally on ESPN.

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