_____
______VS_________
__18-6 Overall (12-5 vs East), 9-1 Last 10__________12-14 Overall (8-8 vs East), 3-7 Last 10
___1st Southeast Div / 2nd Eastern Conf_____________3rd Southeast Div / 7th Eastern Conf
Winners of their last 5 in a row (longest winning streak in the Eastern Conference) and 9 of their last 10, YOUR Washington Wizards fly south to escape the winter's cold for a Friday night match-up with division rivals the Miami Heat.
The Heat have been hit hard by recent injuries to their bigs, with PF/C Josh McRoberts out for the season with a knee injury and PF/C Chris Bosh out for an unspecified amount of time with a calf injury. Bosh's injury doesn't look to be a major one and there's a chance (as this post is written) that he may play versus the Wizards. Of course, when you think about the Heat, you think about perennial all-star SG Dwayne Wade. Wade is having a good year, averaging over 21 points per game. If Bosh cannot go, anticipate the Birdman (PF Chris Anderson) to potentially make a start in his place. PF Udonis Haslem is another potential fill-in at the 4.
YOUR Washington Wizards are, simply put, on a roll. Their record is reflective of good defensive play, a favorable schedule, and the improvement of PG John Wall over last year's all-star year. Wall's defense has been laudable. He's also seeing the floor well and his teammates are converting passes into buckets for themselves and dimes for Wall. Wall currently leads the NBA in dimes, averaging 10.4 per game. The Wizards also lead the NBA in 3-point shooting percentage thanks to the dead-eye shooting of SG Bradley Beal, SF Paul Pierce and reserve SG/SF Rasual "Hi Toronto!" Butler. Wizards head coach Randy Wittman has seemingly settled on a bench mob rotation that includes PF Nene (battling foot issues), C Kevin Seraphin, PG Andre Miller, and SF Otto Porter.
Let's meet the starting lineups with the caveat that it's difficult to predict the Miami bigs based on their injury situation.
_____
_______PG John Wall, 6'4" (Kentucky)________________PG Norris Cole, 6'2" (Cleveland St)
________17.8 ppg, 10.6 apg, 4.8 rpg______________________7.0 ppg, 3.4 apg, 2.5 rpg
_____
_______SG Bradley Beal, 6'5" (Florida)_______________SG Dwayne Wade, 6'4" (Marquette)
________15.1 ppg, 3.3 apg, 2.9 rpg______________________21.4 ppg, 5.4 apg, 3.7 rpg
_____
_______SF Paul Pierce, 6'8" (Kansas)______________________SF Luol Deng, 6'9" (Duke)
________13.2 ppg, 4.7 rpg, 2.4 apg_______________________14.3 ppg, 5.0 rpg, 1.4 apg
_____
____PF Kris Humphries, 6'9" (Minnesota)__________PF Chris Andersen, 6'10" (Blinn College)
________7.9 ppg, 6.7 rpg, 0.7 apg________________________2.4 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 0.5 apg
_____
______C Marcin Gortat, 6'11" (Poland)__________________C Justin Hamilton, 7'0" (LSU)
________13.6 ppg, 8.3 rpg, 1.4 bpg______________________3.6 ppg, 2.6 rpg, 0.3 bpg
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What: Wizards vs Heat
Where: American Airlines Arena - Miami, FL
When: 7:30 p.m. EST
TV: Comcast SportsNet, NBA League Pass, Quasi-legal internet streams
Radio: WNEW 99.1 FM / WFED 1500 AM
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YOUR Washington Wizards have been on a roll. Can they keep it going in South Beach against traditional nemesis Miami Heat?
Drop your thoughts, predictions, and opinions below.
Go Wizards!
