Beal starts 0 for 13, Heat roll past Wizards 122-95
MIAMI — Washington’s Bradley Beal thought he had an open path to a layup in the opening minutes, unaware that Miami’s Bam Adebayo was going to swat his shot out of bounds with ease.
Beal’s night didn’t get any better.
And the Heat looked like themselves again.
Beal — the NBA’s scoring leader, averaging 34.8 points entering Friday — missed his first 13 shot attempts, reserve Kendrick Nunn had 25 points and Miami rolled to a 122-95 win over the Wizards.
Adebayo scored 21 for Miami, which got 17 points from Kelly Olynyk, 17 more from Tyler Herro and a 14-point, nine-assist, eight-rebound night from Jimmy Butler.
Beal scored only seven for Washington, the first time this season he has been held below 25. Alex Len scored 18, Russell Westbrook scored 13 and Rui Hachimura added 12 for the Wizards, who won in Miami on Wednesday by holding the Heat to 35 second-half points — then gave up 40 in the first quarter on Friday.
Miami led by as many as 37, the biggest Heat lead of the season — and biggest Washington deficit of the season.
Everything was different for the Heat. They had a morning shootaround, a break from the norm. They changed the starting lineup, inserting Goran Dragic for Herro. Heat coach Erik Spoelstra even challenged a foul call, something he hardly ever does, and was successful.
And Beal simply couldn’t buy a basket.
He was 0 for 6 in the first quarter and 0 for 6 again in the second. He missed his first shot of the third before getting a 3-pointer to fall with 9:46 left in the period.
That was his last shot of the night. Washington lifted all five of its starters with 4:14 left in the third, down 93-61.
TIP-INS
Wizards: Beal’s scoring average fell to 33.3. … Washington’s 5-14 start matches the seventh-worst in franchise history. … The Wizards are 2-0 with Westbrook in the lineup against Brooklyn this season, and 0-11 when he’s in the lineup against any other team.
Heat: Dragic left in the third quarter with a sprained left ankle. X-rays were negative. … The Heat won the season series with the Wizards 2-1, the 15th time in the last 18 seasons that they at least split with Washington.
REFEREE DUO
Lauren Holtkamp-Sterling and Ashley Moyer-Gleich were two of the officials, joined by crew chief Brian Forte. It was the second time in NBA history that two women worked a game; Natalie Sago and Jenna Schroeder were on a crew in Orlando together last month.
FREE THROWS
Adebayo went to the line 11 times in the first quarter alone, making them all. It was the first time a Heat player made that many free throws in any quarter since Dwyane Wade made 14 in the fourth against Cleveland in 2007.
UP NEXT
Wizards: Visit Charlotte on Sunday.
Heat: Visit New York on Sunday.
