In what was a closely played game, the Washington Wizards pulled out to an 11 point lead in the third quarter behind the efforts of John Wall and Bradley Beal. The Washington backcourt was torching the Heat, and it didn’t help that Dragic sat out most of the third because of foul trouble.
As a response, Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra went with a small-ball lineup we had yet to see this season. With Hassan Whiteside on the bench and James Johnson at center, Miami was able to erase the deficit and take an 82-81 lead going into the fourth quarter.