Wade scorches Washington in Miami

November 14, 11:21 PMWashington Wizards ExaminerGeorge Panagakos

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Wade (right) was near flawless tonight with 24 points
on 8-for-10 shooting (AP Photo/Jeffrey M. Boan)

Dwayne Wade hit a scorching 8-for-10 tonight to lead the Miami Heat to a 97-77 victory over the visiting Washington Wizards.  Antawn Jamison picked up a double-double in the loss, with 15 points and 10 rebounds, while co-captain Caron Butler, who has averaged over 21 points per game this season, scored only 6 points on 3-for-10 shooting.

The Wizards starting line struggled and were outplayed by their bench tonight, primarily because the bench saw more minutes in the wake of what turned out to be a complete Miami blow out.

Miami played a strong first quarter in which both Dwayne Wade and Michael Beasley scored 8 points.  In the second quarter, the duo continued their success, finding their way inside with little effort, and preventing the Wizards on the other end.  By half, with the score 49-36, Miami had out-rebounded Washington, 24-18, and limited Washington to just under 40% shooting.

Washington made a run in the second half, and cut Miami's lead down to as little as 6 in the third, but in the last seven minutes of the quarter, Miami went on a game-ending 20-3 run.  Jamison made 7 points on 3-for-5 shooting in the quarter, however Caron attempted and made only a single dunk shot, which is a bad sign for Wizards fans.

Coach Eddie Jordan benched his starters and played out the fourth quarter with his reserves, and Washington would not find a way to cut into the lead.  Washington allowed the Heat to shoot 6-for-14 from the three point arc in the second half after they went only 1-for-10 in the first half, but many of those shots in the first half were uncontested and simply missed by the Heat players.  Washington also gave up in the paint, allowing the Heat entry for countless second-chance opportunities.  By the end of the game, Miami had out-rebounded Washington by a margin of +19.

Things for Washington to look at for Tuesday's Rematch
The Heat, 4-4 coming in to tonight's game, is not a powerhouse defensive team, but they got the job done tonight against the Wizards.  Washington's offense has not looked this bad since they played the Detroit Pistons in the preseason, but they had the excuse of not having Nick Young, Antawn Jamison, and Juan Dixon.  Tonight, Washington had relatively no excuse, although not having the play of Antonio Daniels could have hurt.

In Washington's first win of the season last Wednesday against the Utah Jazz, the Wizards as a team shot 32-for-40 at the free throw line, while tonight, Washington made only 10-for-18.  Antonio Daniels is a player that looks for contact when he plays, leading to free throw opportunities.  Without him in the lineup, Washington is down on high energy players who will look to attack.  Nick Young and JaVale McGee lead the Wizards off the bench with free throw attempts, and tonight they played well with a combined 26 points and a mediocre 6-for-11 at the line, but Wizards free throw attempt leader, Caron Butler, did not go to the line once the entire game.

Washington will challenge the Miami Heat a second time this Tuesday in Washington, and if they hope to win, they will have to take advantage of the Heat's relatively small-ball line-up and break into the paint.  A shooter has no recourse but to shoot himself out of a slump, and the Wizards would be well off if they could help Butler with a few extra looks to start his momentum.  On the defensive end, the Wizards will need to watch for kick-out penetration, and guard the perimeter whether the Heat are in stroke or not, which of course is not as easy as it sounds when you have to contend with Beasley, Wade, and Shawn Marion inside.

The Wizards will have three days of rest, but with a 1-6 record, my guess is "no sleep 'till Tuesday" will be spinning in their heads.