Game Info

When: Saturday, January 9 at 7 p.m. ET

Where: Capital One Arena

How to watch: NBC Sports Washington

Injury Report

Wizards: Russell Westbrook (Finger, Day-to-day)

Heat: Moe Harkless (Arm, Day-to-day)

Pregame notes

After losing their last two road games, the Wizards (2-7) are back in D.C. Saturday evening to face to Miami Heat (3-4) for the first time this season. Washington has a quick turnaround after losing to the Celtics, who only had 9 active players, Friday night 107-116. As expected, Bradley Beal went off for 41 points in his 38 minutes on the floor. Rui Hachimura followed with 17 points. Meanwhile, the Wizards allowed Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown to score 32 and 27 points respectively. To make the Wizards feel better, Miami was also unable to beat the Celtics in their last game.

The Wizards will have their hands full with Miami’s leading scorers Bam Adebayo (18.6 ppg), Goran Dragic (13.9 ppg), and Jimmy Butler (13.8 ppg). Tyler Herro and Duncan Robinson have not shown consistency this season but that doesn’t mean they won’t find their rhythm offensively against the Wizards who struggle defensively.

Even though it’s so early on in the season, it’s evident that every game for the Wizards will be a battle, especially if Beal is having to put the team on his back. The Wizards have shown some fight in them this season by coming back from deficits but the Wizards need to find it in them to be even more aggressive than they have been. Even Rui Hachimura pointed out that his team needs to be more aggressive in his zoom call with the media after the Celtics loss Friday night. The Wizards seem to be aware of what needs to be done and what changes need to be executed but they just can’t seem to follow through...so good luck against the Heat.