Two of the best teams in the East will clash Monday night when the Miami Heat heads to the nation's capital to face the surging Washington Wizards. The game will tip off 7:00 P.M at the Verizon Center.
The Heat (9-7) have been playing solid basketball as of late, winning four of their last six including three straight on the road after edging the New York Knicks to a 86-79 Sunday night according to Sports Chat Place. Dwyane Wade looked superb in his return from injury scoring 27 points on 11 of 18 shooting while Cris Bosh chipped in 20 points and nine rebounds of his own.
"I think it's just a comfort. My guys, they get a lot of comfort with me being out there," said Wade, whose team began a stretch of playing seven of eight on the road per Yahoo Sports Game Preview. "Hopefully I don't have any more hamstring pulls or anything that would keep me out for that long of a stretch."
But aside from Wade and Bosh, the rest of the Heat had problems scoring the ball, shooting just 12 of 36 from the field, but was able to make up with stellar defense limiting the Knicks to just 35.2 percent shooting and just 34 points in the first half.
The Wizards (10-5) have split their last four home games with a couples of wins and losses. The team was able to break a two-game losing streak by beating the New Orleans Pelicans 83-80 Saturday night.
Center Marcin Gortat was a beast in the paint, scoring 24 points and grabbing 13 rebounds. While it was Washington's lowest scoring game of the season, they did manage to hold the Pelicans to 37.0 percent shooting with hard-nosed defense and outscored them in the break, 15-1.
"They're not all going to be pretty, but you've got to be able to win some of those," coach Randy Wittman said. "We weren't stellar offensively, but the defense won the game for us."
Washington's leading scorer and rising star point guard John Wall only had 11 points on 5-of-14 in the victory. His back court duo Bradley Beal also just had 12 points.
The game can be viewed live online for free via live streaming by clicking here.
Join the Conversation