Wizards rally late, earn 103-100 victory over Heat

A 32-point fourth-quarter by the Washington Wizards was enough to overcome a 16-point second-half deficit and earn the 103-100 win over the Miami Heat on Saturday evening.

Washington, down by 16 in the third quarter and 94-84 with under five minutes remaining, outscored the Heat 19-6 in the final 4:17. Wizard guards Spencer Dinwiddie and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope combined to score 15 straight points — giving them the 99-96 lead with 1:43 remaining, a lead they did not relinquish for the remainder for the contest.

The Wizards shot 73.3 percent from the floor — including 5-of-9 (55.6 percent) from 3-point range — in the final quarter after shooting 42.4 percent across the previous three. The Heat shot 58.8 percent in the fourth, but missed all four of its 3-point attempts.

On the evening, Miami shot 46.9 percent — 57.9 percent in the second half — but just 25.9 percent (7-27) from beyond the arc and 85.0 percent from the charity stripe.

Jimmy Butler recorded a team-high 29 points on 11-of-19 shooting, adding five rebounds, four assists and two steals. Tyler Herro tallied 20 points — his 11th 20-point performance of the season — on 8-of-16 shooting, knocking down three of his six triples.

Bam Adebayo battled with foul trouble for the majority of the evening, tallying 15 points and six rebounds in 29 minutes. P.J. Tucker had another very efficient performance, adding 14 points on a near-perfect 5-of-6 from the floor with a block and a steal.

The Wizards shot 48.6 percent, 36.7 percent from 3-point range and 87.0 percent from the free-throw line.

Bradley Beal tallied a team-high 21 points on 8-of-17 shooting with nine assists. Dinwiddie, who returned after a one-game absence (right knee maintenance) by sitting the latter of a back-to-back, finished with 16 points on 6-of-11 shooting and 4-of-7 from 3-point range.

Caldwell-Pope added 16 points on 5-of-8 from distance while Montrezl Harrell had 13 points on 5-of-7 from the floor, grabbing seven boards with three assists and two steals in the winning effort.

The Heat’s four-game win streak was snapped, as they drop to 11-6. The Wizards improve to 11-5 with four consecutive home victories.

Beal’s three-point play conversion gave Washington the early 8-2 advantage. Two straight paint buckets from Robinson, followed by Butler’s steal with an alley-oop layup to Caleb Martin gave the Heat a 19-18 lead — capping off a 9-1 run.

The Wizards committed seven first-quarter turnovers while Miami committed just three.

Lowry’s floater knotted the contest at 30 with 9:11 remaining in the opening half. Two Caldwell-Pope triples made it 41-35 with 2:50 left in the half. Though Miami closed the half on an 8-0 run — six coming from the charity stripe — to take the 43-41 lead heading into the break.

The Heat shot 37.1 percent — netting one of their 14 3-pointers (7.1 percent). Washington shot 36.8 percent and sunk 5-of-15 (33.3 percent) from distance.

Duncan Robinson’s first triple appeared with 10:42 into the second half — extending his streak with at least one consecutive 3-pointer to a franchise record 65 games. He left in the third quarter with a right knee contusion and did not return, finishing with seven points and five rebounds in 19:30.

Lowry’s fastbreak widened Miami’s advantage to 55-45, its first double-digit lead of the night. Two straight (patented) Tucker corner 3s capped off Miami’s 18-2 run, extending it to 63-47 — its largest lead of the night.

The Wizards responded with a 9-2 run, prompting a Heat timeout with 3:45 left in the third quarter. They trimmed the lead to as small as four by the end of the quarter, entering the fourth down 75-71.

Back-to-back baskets by Butler made it 89-81. Butler’s 10-foot fadeaway made it 94-84 with under five minutes remaining. Three consecutive triples — two by Dinwiddie and the other by Caldwell-Pope — gave Washington the 99-96 lead, marking 12 straight by the Wizards.

The Heat did not lead for the remainder of the game.

A pair of Adebayo free-throws cut it to 99-98 with 34.8 seconds remaining. Lowry’s foul off the SLOB put Kyle Kuzma — a 51.6 percent free-throw shooter (on 31 attempts) entering Saturday — at the charity stripe, though the 6-foot-10 forward sunk both.

Butler and Kuzma traded a pair of free throws — making it 103-100 with 12.4 seconds left. Butler’s contested 3-point attempt with a second remaining rimmed out. Time was added back onto the clock, so Kuzma went to the charity stripe for two more, missing both. Adebayo’s full court heave just missed, clinching Washington’s 11th victory of the season.

Next up: The Heat travel to Detroit to take on the Pistons for the first leg of a back-to-back on Tuesday, Nov. 23. Tip-off will be at 7 p.m. EST.