NBA: First-place Heat stuff slumping Wizards
Jimmy Butler #22 of the Miami Heat celebrates against the New York Knicks in the first half at FTX Arena on January 26, 2022 in Miami, Florida. Cliff Hawkins/Getty Images/AFP
Bam Adebayo scored 21 points, Jimmy Butler added 19 points and the Miami Heat never trailed as they defeated the host Washington Wizards 121-100 on Monday night.
The Heat, who have the best record in the Eastern Conference at 35-20, improved to 22-12 against the East. They won despite missing star guard Tyler Herro, who is averaging 20.1 points per game, due to a sore right knee.
Article continues after this advertisementBam is absolutely dominating this road trip 💥 pic.twitter.com/dl7r17KGlr
— Miami HEAT (@MiamiHEAT) February 8, 2022
Miami also got 16 points and eight assists off the bench from Gabe Vincent, who made 6 of 9 shots from the floor, including 4 of 6 3-pointers.
Washington lost its sixth straight home game and its eighth of nine overall. Bradley Beal, Washington’s three-time All-Star, missed his fourth straight game due to a sprained left wrist.
Article continues after this advertisementWithout Beal — who leads the team in scoring and assists — the Wizards were led by Corey Kispert. He had 20 points in 26 minutes off the bench.
Early on, it was all Miami as the Heat led 39-24 after one quarter. Vincent scored 11 points in four minutes in that opening quarter, making all three of his 3-pointers and 4 of 4 shots overall.
In fact, Vincent made one more triple, but he released that shot a split second after the first-quarter buzzer.
Even so, Miami made 58.3 percent of its first-quarter shots, including 6 of 11 on 3-pointers. Washington shot just 42.9 percent and 1 for 7 from distance.
Miami stretched its lead to 20 points at 46-26 with 9:55 left in the second quarter. But Washington outscored Miami 27-14 for the rest of the period, closing its halftime deficit to 60-53.
The Heat took control of the game in the third quarter, extending their lead to 91-70, and Miami cruised from there.
The Heat won by shooting 56.6 percent from the floor and 56.3 percent from long range. Miami is now 3-2 on its six-game road trip.
Washington had a 58-40 edge in paint points, but the Wizards shot just 45.0 percent from the floor, making just 7 of 31 3-pointers (22.6 percent).
