Dragic, Whiteside Lead Heat to 114-111 Win Over Wizards

-Slow start for the Heat, who looked like a team coming off a back to back instead of Milwaukee.

All Heat starters scored in double figures, with Dion Waiters delivering 16 points, Josh Richardson chipping in with 15 and Derrick Williams 12.

The struggling Miami Heat (2-8), owners of the leagues’ longest active losing streak, will try to snap out of their downward spiral as they prepare to host the Milwaukee Bucks (5-5).

Miami scored on five straight possessions as Washington did not get a clean stop until almost four minutes had expired in the third quarter. But we just need to grind. “Like I told you last game, we weren’t playing bad teams”. With guys getting in the paint, a lot of great things are going to happen.

Tony Snell and Giannis Antetokounmpo led the Bucks with 14 points each, but Antetokounmpo was just 5 of 15 from the field and had several shots blocked by Whiteside.

“Let’s build on it”, Whiteside said of Thursday’s win.

“As someone who is imposing his will on games, it shows you how competitive this league is”. We didn’t have the chance to go one-on-one. Those future Hall of Famers are gone, but at least for one game, the team’s point production compared to those glory days. It was just me and him.

When the Miami Heat were led by LeBron James and Dwyane Wade, scoring was rarely an issue.

“The 6’7” forward is also a solid defender who has the wingspan to bother outside shooters and the athleticism and lateral quickness to keep up with ball-handlers.

But once he got on a roll, it was enough for the Heat to actually put together a winning streak with Saturday night’s 114-111 victory over the Washington Wizards at the Verizon Center.

But Washington couldn’t score on its next possession, and when Wall finally hit another 3 after Waiters’ free throw on the other end, there were only 0.9 seconds left. Even in the second half, Monroe might’ve been Milwaukee’s best bet to get quick, cheap fouls on Whiteside. Hmm. “I didn’t get no calls”. When the game was blown open in the third quarter it was because of the 13-for-23 shooting that extended the lead to 91-82 entering the fourth. The final margin represented Miami’s biggest lead of the game.

“We went small”, Kidd said.

Point guard Goran Dragic returned for the Heat after missing three games with a sprained left ankle.

They needed that large margin because NY scored 47 points in the fourth quarter, but never could pull closer than seven points. He had 16 points in 35 minutes.

Having an interior force like Whiteside gives the Heat a different component than most teams. The proposed deal is saying that the Heat will send Hassan Whiteside to the Celtics in exchange for Amir Johnson, Terry Rozier, Jonas Jerebko and a 2017 first-round pick (via Brooklyn Nets). And when he tried to go to the basket late in the game, Hassan Whiteside was waiting to reject shots.