HHH GameTime Preview: Miami Heat Vs. Washington Wizards

The Miami Heat host the Washington Wizards tonight at the AAA, at 6PM local in the first of four contests between the two teams this season. Miami will host the return engagement on March 10th, with two meetings in the District of Columbia on January 15th and on April 14th. After opening the season with a home court 107-95 win over the Chicago Bulls on Tuesday, the HEAT lost two straight on the road, first to the Philadelphia 76ers 114-110 on Wednesday, then 101-100 to the Brooklyn Nets on Friday. The Wizards have opened the season with two losses, 113-102 to the Pistons in Detroit on Wednesday, and 109-102 at home against the Sixers on Friday.

The HEAT and the Wizards last faced off on April 10th, as the 61-16 HEAT were visiting the 29-49 Washington squad at the Verizon Center in Washington DC. The HEAT rested the big three, starting Rashard Lewis, Shane Battier and Mike Miller in their place. Battier hit five-of-eight three-point shots for 15 points, Mario Chalmers scored 13 with eight assists, and Ray Allen came off the bench for a team high 23 points with six rebounds, four assists, and three steals. AJ Price led the Wizards, also with 23 points off the bench, and John Wall narrowly missed notching a triple-double by scoring 17 points with 11 assists and nine rebounds. * Full Recap * Box Score

Miami Heat vs Washington Wizards-Highlights 4/10/13 (via NBA MLB)

Wizards forward Martell Webster had a little to say about Miami's second team after the game:

Honestly we should have blown that team out. To tell you the truth, we just couldn't get it going. You have to be able to take care of those games

For the Wizards point of view, check out Bullets Forever.

Miami's last game featured a spirited Brooklyn Nets group, including 19 points, six assists and five rebounds from Paul Pierce, eight points and eight helpers by Deron Williams, and 19 points for Joe Johnson. Miami answered with 26 points, seven rebounds and six assists by LeBron James, 21 points, five rebounds and four helpers from Dwyane Wade, and 17 points from Chris Bosh. * Full Recap * Box Score

Miami Heat vs Brooklyn Nets | November 1, 2013 | Full Highlights | NBA 2013-14 Season ᴴᴰ (via NBAshowtimeHD2)

New Net Kevin Garnett noted the home crowd at the Barclay Center:

Defending home is very important...it's going to be a pleasure playing here, straight up.

Hit up NetsDaily for more on Brooklyn.

The Wizards lost to Philadelphia despite a balanced attack which saw six Wizards finish in double figures. They were led by John Wall, who scored 26 points with six assists, five rebounds and three steals. Trevor Ariza added 12 with 14 boards and six assists. Full Recap * Box Score

Philadelphia Sixers vs Washington Wizards | November 1, 2013 | Full Highlights | NBA 2013-14 Season (via NBAshowtimeHD2)

Wizards coach Randy Wittman talked about Washington's state of mind after the game:

I don't like their demeanor coming out of the locker room. Everything you get is 'no, we're OK.' We're not OK. We're 0-2. We're not OK.

See Bullets Forever for more.

Game Time: 7:00 PM ET

Broadcast: League Pass, SNET360, CSN, SunSpM

Radio: NBA Game Time Audio, WAXY, 106.7 The Fan

All-Time Series: Miami holds a slight 70-31 edge head-to-head with the Bullets/Wizards. Their 69.3% success rate is their second best against any team. (They're 25-10 against the Charlotte Bobcats).

Season Series: First of four meetings

Standings:

Miami Heat: 1-2, .333, on pace for a 27-55 season. Tied for third in the Southeast Division, tied for 12th in the Eastern Conference, tied with the Los Angeles Lakers for the 23rd best record in the NBA. Last Five: x x w l l

Washington Wizards: 0-2, .000, on pace for an 0-82 season. Fifth in the Southeast Division, tied for 14th in the Eastern Conference, tied for 27th in the NBA. Last Five: x x x l l

HEAT Milestones:

Games: Norris Cole will tie Gary Payton in 46th with his 149th game played. Chris Bosh will move past Dorell Wright into 24th with his 212th contest. If James Jones plays, he'll pass Anthony Carter into 18th all-time, with his 247th appearance.

Boards: Michael Beasley needs six rebounds to move into 22nd all-time, passing Jamal Mashburn with 943. Joel Anthony needs 11 boards to pass Tim Hardaway into 15th with 1181. Udonis Haslem increases his franchise record 5,161 rebounds with every board. He leads second place Alonzo Mourning by 354 rebounds.

Helpers: Chris Bosh needs four helpers to pass Keith Askins and Chris Quinn into 30th with his 376th assist. Dwyane Wade's 4,056 dimes stand 1,189 assists ahead of franchise second all-time distributor Tim Hardaway.

Theft: Norris Cole will tie Eric Murdock in 39th with his next steal, number 103. Shane Battier has 105, and Joel Anthony has 108. Either will tie Billy Owens in 36th if they get to 110. Mario Chalmers will move into fourth all-time with nine more steals, passing Kevin Edwards with his 561st.

Rejections: With one block, Chris Andersen will move into the Heat's all-time top 50, tying Tim Hardaway, Antoine walker, and Erick Dampier with 47. Mario Chalmers will tie Voshon Lenard in 46th with one more, making 51. James Jones' next one will make 53, moving him into 42nd past Brian Shaw, Bily Owens, and LaPhonso Ellis. LeBron James needs three to pass Keith Askins into 14th, with 171.

Today in HEAT history

Miami is 4-7 on November 3rd's throughout their history.

1989 - New Jersey Nets 110, Miami Heat 90

1997 - Charlotte Hornets 112, Miami Heat 99

2000 - Charlotte Hornets 83, Miami Heat 79

2001 - Atlanta Hawks 90, Miami Heat 83

2002 - Miami Heat 88, Sacramento Kings 78

2003 - Dallas Mavericks 103, Miami Heat 93

2004 - Miami Heat 100, New Jersey Nets 77

2005 - Indiana Pacers 105, Miami Heat 102

2006 - Miami Heat 91, New Jersey Nets 85

2009 - Phoenix Suns 104, Miami Heat 96

2012 - Miami Heat 119, Denver Nuggets 116

Birthdays

Tyler Hansbrough, former Pacer and current Raptor, turns 28 today.

Starting Lineups

HEAT

PG - Mario Chalmers
PF - Udonis Haslem
C - Chris Bosh
SF - LeBron James
SG - Dwyane Wade

Wizards

PG - John Wall
PF - Nene Hilario
C - Kevin Seraphin
SF - Trevor Ariza
SG - Bradley Beal

Team Leaders

HEAT

LBJ - 22.7 points, BOSH - 18.3 points, DWade - 17.0 points
BOSH - 6.7 rebounds, LBJ - 5.7 rebounds, DWade - 4.5 rebounds
LBJ - 9.0 assists, NoCo, Rio - 3.7 assists
Rio - 3.3 steals, DWade - 1.5 steals, LBJ, RayRay, 'shard, Andersen - 1.0 steals
BOSH - 1.3 blocks, Andersen - 0.7 blocks, DWade - 0.5 blocks

Wizards

POINTS: John Wall - 23.0, Trevor Ariza - 20.0, Bradley Beal - 13.5
REBOUNDS: Trevor Ariza - 12.0, Marcin Gortat - 8.0, Trevor Booker - 6.5
ASSISTS: John Wall - 8.5, Trevor Ariza - 4.5, Trevor Booker, Bradley Beal, Eric Maynor - 2.5
STEALS - John Wall - 3.0, Trevor Ariza, Al Harrington - 1.5
BLOCKS - Marcin Gortat - 2.0, Nene Hilario - 1.0, Trevor Booker, Martell Webster, Bradley Beal, Garrett Temple - 0.5

Splits

In 32 games against the Wizards, LeBron James has scored 26 points with seven rebounds and seven helpers in 39 minutes per game.

In 30 career matchups against Washington, Chris Bosh scores 20 points with 9.3 boards per game. Additionally, his 9.5 rebounds per game on his 141 career Sunday games rank as his best day of the week.

Ray Allen has faced the Wiz 48 times, and averages 17.8 points while hitting 36.8% of his three-point attempts.

For Mario Chalmers, Sunday games are his hardest day of the week, averaging seven points and 3.5 assists. He usually scores nine points with 4.5 dimes against Washington, in 18 career tries.

Musical Reference

The Wizards remind me of DC, DC reminds me of Reagan, and Reagan reminds me of this song by the Clash:

The Clash - Rock the Casbah (via theclashVEVO)

You always have a home here at HotHotHoops. Make sure to keep it dialed in for tonight's GameThread, going live at 5:30 PM. Check out Bullets Forever in the meantime.