Wizards vs. Heat recap: Washington takes down Miami, 114-108

The Washington Wizards beat the Miami Heat Friday night, 114-108.

The Wizards were already long-eliminated heading into the game, but the Heat still held a fighting chance to grab the sixth seed in the Eastern Conference and avoid the Play-In Tournament. Coming off a back-to-back in Philadelphia, the Heat chose to rest their starters and all but guarantee they would miss out on the sixth seed.

The Wizards’ rotational players — minus Daniel Gafford, Delon Wright and Corey Kispert — all rested tonight, clearing the way for guys like Johnny Davis, Xavier Cooks, Quenton Jackson and Jay Huff to see substantial time on the court.

In his fourth career start, Davis put up 16 points in 38 minutes. Disregarding a couple of Shaqtin’ a Fool-level lowlights, it was refreshing to see Davis play aggressively. Miami bit hard on the rookie’s fakes all night, and he capitalized on every bit of daylight by putting up 20 shots. Even though he only made seven of them, a meaningless April game is the best time to let the shots fly.

Huff, the recent G-League Defensive Player of the Year winner, added 13 points and four rebounds. Cooks also put up 10 points with a career-high nine rebounds in 22 minutes.

The Wizards will face the Houston Rockets on Sunday for the final game of the 2022-23 season. Then, all eyes will turn to the Draft Lottery taking place on May 16, where the Wizards will hope to grab a top-four pick and maybe — just maybe — a chance at sweet French redemption.