
Bradley Beal scored 30 points to lead Washington in a turnover-filled contest.
The Washington Wizards lost to the Miami Heat on Thursday night with a 112-97 loss on the road.
Every team has a bad loss like this every once in a while, but I’m still disappointed that the game turned out as poorly as it did. The biggest factors in this loss were turnovers (Washington had 17 while Miami had 6) and a lack of free throw attempts (Washington had 10 attempts, making only 6 of them while Miami was 20-of-24 from the line).
While the Wizards led for a good part of the first quarter, they still gave up six turnovers. The trend happened again in the third when the Heat were able to get an 18 point lead after the Wizards committed 5 turnovers. The strange part about that third quarter was that Washington also shot 68.8 percent in that period. Washington was able to give themselves a chance in the fourth quarter, dropping down the lead to 10 at some points, but the game was effectively over by then.
Bradley Beal scored 30 points on 11-of-18 shooting in what I think was his best individual performance this season. Kyle Kuzma added 19 points and Corey Kispert scored 13 off the bench for Washington as well. Spencer Dinwiddie was not in action tonight due to precautionary measures given that he tore his ACL just one year ago.
For Miami, Jimmy Butler led with 32 points.
The Wizards will be back in action on Saturday at home when they play the Heat in a rematch. Tip-off is at 7 p.m. ET.