RECAP: Heat surge back but fall to short-handed Wizards

The Wizards were on the second night of a back-to-back and were extremely short-handed in the front court, but they out-played the Miami Heat to get the 114-103 victory.

Without Marcin Gortat, Nene, or Drew Gooden, the Wizards went small and played Jared Dudley at the 5 often. It changed the game so much that Erik Spoelstra didn't even play Hassan Whiteside in the 4th quarter despite having a pretty solid game with 14 points and 4 blocks. The Wizards got to the rim routinely and knocked down shots.

Despite that, Miami had a chance. The game was tied at 103, but the Wizards reeled off the final 11 points of the game to win. Turnovers, mistakes and missed opportunities doomed the Heat. The Heat shot 59% for the game and lost. Dwyane Wade had 26 points, 9 assists and 7 rebounds to lead the Heat. Goran Dragic had 20 points and 9 assists.

It was the most points the Heat have given up this season. The 6th time a team has topped 100+ (they've lost 5 of those). But there was one juncture in the game that was rather frustrating for the Heat. Down 2 with a little over a minute to go, Bradley Beal went up for a shot and came down with the ball, an apparent travel, which was not called. He kicked it out for three and the Wizards went up 5. That changed everything.

Erik Spoelstra muttered to the officials that it cost them the game. Chris Bosh eventually got a technical and was kicked out of the game because of his anger towards the officials.

It was a bad miss call. But in reality, the Heat have no one to blame but themselves. They played a tired and undermanned team at home, and they let them dictate the matchups, pace, and score at will. The Heat didn't play good enough to win. They could certainly use Luol Deng back soon.

John Wall, who was a game-time decision, scored 26 points to lead the Wizards. Five other players scored in double figures for them including Gary Neal with 21 points off the bench. The Wizards improve to 9-10 while Miami falls to 12-7 and surrenders its position atop the East. Miami will play 4 of their next 5 games on the road, starting Wednesday in Charlotte.