Wizards vs. Heat final score: Washington beats Miami 101-94

Lebron James and Dwayne Wade put in 55 minutes between them, combining for 36 points on 25 shots, 12 rebounds and 8 assists, but they were unable to resist the pure awesomeness of Martell Webster and Chris Singleton. Webster and CSing accounted for 50 minutes, 40 points on 23 shots and 9 rebounds. This will obviously continue into the regular season. Jan Vesely added 11 rebounds split relatively even between the offensive and defensive glass. The Heat always seemed poised to run away, and the Wizards never let them do it. I'll take it. Good preseason win feels good. On to the game notes.

THE GOOD

• In the first quarter: Great to see A.J. Price knock a few triples down after a bad turnover against some early pressure defense.
• Chris Singleton hitting contested jumpshots from possibly sustainable range!
• In the second quarter: The defense tightened up in a big way. Rodney Carney attempting to earn a roster spot helped, yet the Wizards were down only by two with five left in the half.
• While the D tightened up, Martell Webster got up. If Webster isn't starting, can CSing-to-Webster be a thing?
• In the third quarter: Bradley Beal picked off a lazy pass from LBJ and got an easy assist with Chris Singleton in transition.
• Dwayne Wade messed with Singleton, and CSing responded by calling for the ball and blowing by Wade for an emphatic dunk. Singleton mad, Singleton smash. Interesting.
• In the fourth quarter: As things kick off in the final frame, CSing and Webster have combined for 34 points on 20 shots, with 9 rebounds in about 40 minutes of play.
• Rebounding, some shooting and general activity from Brian Cook? Somebody creeping on a roster spot.
• The Wizards never let the Heat pull away and earned the W. With only one game remaining in preseason play, this is a confidence builder a team searching for its rotation needed.

THE BAD

• In the first quarter: Early turnovers killed. That series ending with Dwayne Wade pushing the ball to the arc as he went out-of-bounds wrapped up with Wade taking a step back onto the floor and waiting until he got the ball back three feet away from the hoop with two defenders napping a heartbeat away. Ugh.
• Perimeter defense was a non-issue as the Wizards surrendered an unacceptable number of barely contested shots inside. The Wiz came out with man defense, the Heat split to the perimeter. As Heat players cut, the defense collapsed in both senses of the word as the second cutter made his way generally unmolested to the rim. It's the Heat, but I was expecting a whole lot more from our interior defense so far...
• In the second quarter:: Helping off Ray Allen at the three-point line, really?
• Lebron James checked back in at 38-40, 41-49 in an eyeblink. It wasn't good and felt worse...the Heat finished the half on a 21-9 run. I don't like +/- much...but Dwayne Wade was +20, with the rest of the Heat starters at +18. Boooo.
• What happened, Trevor Booker? In the NBA, you are the position you defend and while Chris Bosh is no picnic...
• In the third quarter: My buddy's CSN feed dropping video repeatedly. Frowny face.
• Bradley has been largely invisi-Beal (HA!) after some early foul trouble and hasn't gotten going. 1-6, 1 AST, 0 REB, 2 TO through three quarters of play. Again, I don't like +/-, but the team was even with Beal on the floor.
• In the fourth quarter: No Shelvin Mack, Randy? I really wanted to see someone try to get Beal going. Only seems logical to try another hand...getting Beal on his feet before the season starts would be nice. Pargo's stat line thus far belies his play.
• When Brian Cook is soaking up offensive rebounds and the ball is getting to Cartier Martin, one hopes for a least one make with the lead on the line. I like Cartier and coming off the bench relatively cold is tough...but that's what a three-point specialist has to do.

THE NOT-QUITE-SO-GOOD-AS-SIR-LANCELOT

• In the first quarter: The Big 3 went 11-11, 24 points and 7 assists in the first seven minutes, yet Washington only trailed by eight.
• Jordan Crawford nailed a long three early on, followed by the inevitable heat check.
• In the second quarter: Jan made a nice backdoor cut early on and called for the alley-oop. If he does that a half-second sooner with John Wall back in the lineup, that's two points. He followed that up by watching Norris Cole drive and drifted away from Udonis Haslem inside the elbow. Haslem missed the short jumper, but that can't happen. Stayed under control a few moments later, showing nice touch in traffic and getting two. Back and forth we go.
• Crawford murdered Carney when he got fed under the hoop about halfway through the quarter, no way Craw was letting that shot get up. The way Carney was playing, it probably wasn't too necessary, but preventing the and-1 is a trend I can sink my teeth into.
• In the third quarter: Sloppy basketball on both sides, but the Wizards managed to cut into the Heat lead a bit, forcing a timeout with some easy transition points. Some missed threes, including a wide open look for Bradley Beal that went long and nearly hit the backboard.
• Trevor Ariza... Trevor Ariza. Trevor Ariza! Trevor Ariza... Trevor Ariza. You know what I'm talking about if you saw this. If not...it looks like the offense will suffer mightily with Ariza on the floor, even as a third option, but his defense can (probably) keep him on the floor. Should it?
• In the fourth quarter: Shelvin Mack sighting! Some overpenetration lead to a heart-stopping kick to the three point line early, but that same eager energy resulted in an offensive rebound as he hustled back on defense. Mack nailed a three pointer off the dribble at the top of the key, but passed up a wide-open man on the perimeter to do it. Couldn't see who it was.
• Man, can Bradley Beal get a break? One minute after I wrote this, he nailed a big three point shot. Moar plz.
• Mack nearly lost the ball and got off a dangerous pass flat on his back that seemed like an easy two for Jan that turned into an inside handoff to Brian Cook. Want to see Ves put that down with authority. His rebounding is keeping him on the floor. Five fouls so far.

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Martell Webster is here to stay, folks. Chris Singleton at the four looks like something Randy Wittman will be bringing to a television near you. The Heat sat their stars in the fourth quarter, but a (preseason) win is a (preseason) win. The Wizards wrap up said preseason against the Spurs in San Antonio. Washington has been looking for a rotation while the Spurs have been running their sets for the past few weeks, so getting out of KC with a win is good. Also, because Kawhi Leonard comparisons to [other draft pick] is inevitable and likely depressing. Until then, evil is vanquished, sleep well and dream of the 8th seed.