Wizards at Heat final score: Washington blown out in Miami, 129-102

The Wizards lost to the Miami Heat, 129-102 on the road Saturday night. Miami dominated this game from start to finish as they shot a blistering 59.1 percent from the field and led by as many as 38 points during the game. The Wizards never led at any time during the game.

For the Heat, James Johnson scored 20 points on 8 of 9 shooting in less than 20 minutes of playing time, while eight Heat players scored in double digits. For the Wizards, Jodie Meeks led all scorers with 23 points.

Here are some takeaways from this game:

The Wizards just didn’t have their hearts in this game

In a game where the Wizards didn’t lead at any point and were getting blown out by almost 40, well, it’s easy to say that the Wizards just had “one of those games” where they came out with little energy and paid the price. Every NBA team has some games like this during the course of an 82 game season, so there isn’t much to fret about from that perspective.

That said, the Heat didn’t have Hassan Whiteside in the lineup tonight. His absence should have allowed Marcin Gortat to have an easier matchup, but that didn’t happen.

The Heat dominated the points in the paint

The Wizards scored 42 points in the paint, which sounds like a lot. But that’s nothing when the Heat scored 76 in the pain as well.

The Wizards could lose a tiebreaker to the Heat if they end up with the same overall record

Washington is currently two games ahead of the Heat in the Eastern Conference standings. However, the Wizards have a 24-18 record against Eastern Conference teams while the Heat have a 25-18 record. Should the two teams end up with the same regular season record, a tiebreaker is determined by the teams’ head to head record and then their record against intra-conference opponents.

The Wizards and Heat split the regular season series at two games a piece, so the tiebreaker now depends on their performance against the Eastern Conference. The Heat have the better conference record, and that could be all they need to beat the Wizards for a higher seed and a Southeast Division title.

Ramon Sessions and Jodie Meeks get some playing time, to no avail

In a game like this, it’s hard to give anyone credit on a losing team. But the Wizards’ backup scoring guards did put up strong performances statistically as Sessions tied a season high with 12 points and Meeks scored a season high 23 tonight. Those performances were in vain given the result, but my hope is that we’ll see something like this again with the Wizards coming out victorious later on this season.

Next game

The Wizards will have a chance to redeem themselves when they host the Timberwolves on Tuesday, March 13 at 7 p.m. ET.