Dwyane Wade outduels Nick Young as Heat top Wizards

The way this game began, you would never have guessed that the Wizards had just one win away from home.  After Miami got out to a quick 6-0 lead, the Wiz scored 9 straight, a run that would catapult them to a very high-scoring opening half.  Washington actually led the majority of the 1^st quarter, and keeping the Heat in it was a surprise 9-point effort by Mario Chalmers. 

The 2^nd quarter was the Dwyane Wade and Nick Young show.  First it was Wade, who scored the first 13 points and 18 of 19 to open the period for Miami, and all within the first 4 minutes.  Young would score 14 of his 24 1^st half points in the 2^nd as well, but the Heat still held the slim 63-61 lead at the break.  Erik Spoelstra was visibly upset with the team defense, something that would improve in the 2^nd half.

Early in the 3^rd Nick Young went down grabbing at his ankle, and it appeared that he would most certainly be done for the game, if not longer.  Even without their top performer, the Wiz still stayed right there with the Heat thanks to John Wall and Rashard Lewis.  Miami was getting a very nice contribution from their bench, who after two awful games had chipped in 17 points after just 3 quarters. 

D-Wade began to get aggressive again when the final quarter began, scoring 8 of the Heat's first 10 points.  The good news for Washington was that Nick Young returned to the game for the 4^th quarter.  He would put in another 11 points, bringing his game total to a team-leading 38.  Unfortunately for him, the Heat would play their best all-around quarter to close out the game and ultimately the Wizards.

Miami began to gain momentum when it counted the most, using a 20-8 run to go from being up by 2 to a game-high 14-point lead with just over 5 minutes left.  Chris Bosh was a big part of the Heat's 4^th quarter, scoring 9 points on 3-of-5 shooting and a hitting all 3 of his free throws.  Washington would finally get back within 10 points in the games final 2 minutes, but would never get closer then 6. 

Credit to the Wizards for playing another great game against Miami.  You have to think that this team, with all the young talent they have, aren't going to be bad for much longer.  It wasn't that far in the past when Washington was a playoff team, and if they continue to build and mature, I imagine that it wont be very long before they become one of those teams that you will not want to play in the 1^st round of the playoffs.

GAME NOTES

• Miami scored 43 points in the 2^nd quarter, a season high for the Heat. 
• Dwyane Wade was a big part of that awesome 2^nd quarter, scoring 20 of his game-high 41 points. 
• For the third straight game, Mario Chalmers scored in double-figures.  All 14 of his points came in quarters 1-3, but that's still a total of 40 points in 3 games for Rio. 
• JaVale McGee had one hell of a game, putting up 18 points and grabbing 17 rebounds for the Wiz. 
• It's amazing how LeBron James comes close to a triple double almost every game.  He finished with 25 points, 9 rebounds and 7 assists, adding 3 blocks and a steal.  He did most of his damage from the charity stripe, making 15-of-19.   
• Chris Bosh finished with 15 points on 5-of-12 shooting.  He was a perfect 5-of-5 from the charity stripe and also grabbed 8 rebounds, 5 of which came in the 4^th quarter. 
• This was the 2^nd time this season that Nick Young scored at least 30 points against the Heat. 
• Miami is now 20-2 when the Big 3 combine for at least 75 points.  
• Zydrunas, after not seeing any action for two straight games, was out there for 25 minutes last night.  He came away with 8 points, 5 boards and a block. 
• The Heat bench chipped in with 19 points.  Eddie House had 9, Big  Z had 8 and James Jones added 2.
  
• Miami also improved to 12-3 on the 2^nd night of back-to-backs.
  

Miami now gets a day off before welcoming the New York Knicks to the AAA.  This is going to be one hell of a game.  Nationally televised and majorly hyped now that the Knicks have Carmelo, I'm sure it's going to be one of the loudest home games for the Heat this season.