Miami HEAT at Washington Wizards Game Preview

The Miami HEAT face the Washington Wizards Thursday night at Capital One Arena. Tip-off is set for 8:00 PM, and television coverage is on FOX Sports Sun. You can also listen to the action live on 790 The Ticket.

1: What were your main takeaways from Miami’s narrow loss in Orlando to open the season?

Couper Moorhead: If we learned anything from last year it should have been no surprise that Miami opened it’s season with another clutch, down-to-the-wire game. As happened so often a year ago, when the HEAT’s offense wasn’t quite clicking on the road Erik Spoelstra found a lineup that was able to scrap and claw their way back into the game, to the point that Miami had a chance to win it in the final seconds before a turnover. But on that turnover, despite it not going Miami’s way, note that it was Josh Richardson with the ball in his hands and Dwyane Wade inbounding – on a night that Richardson set a career-high in shot attempts with 21. He only made eight of those looks, but clearly Richardson was looking to assert himself, and challenge himself to execute shots he wouldn’t have attempted a season ago. Those reps can only help a player grow and find himself.

There’s a long season ahead, full of stretches both good and poor – both of which Miami had in Orlando – but it’s good to see players like Richardson improving, along with Bam Adebayo and Rodney McGruder both making an impact.

Joe Beguiristain: Above all else, it was great to see the HEAT respond to adversity and fight their way back on the road.

After falling behind by 12 points with 5:48 to play, Miami seemingly flipped a switch and started to execute better on both ends of the floor. While Goran Dragić and Josh Richardson did the bulk of the scoring from that point on, Rodney McGruder and Bam Adebayo also had their moments. In particular, Adebayo did a nice job against Nikola Vučević and helped hold him scoreless in the fourth quarter. Of course, the former Kentucky Wildcat also fared well when switched onto wings on the perimeter.  

All that said, the night belonged to Dragić. After getting the HEAT started off on the right foot with 16 points in the first half, the Slovenian scored five points in the fourth thanks to some huge buckets.

That’s the Dragon for ya.

Couper: It was notable that against such a tall, long and athletic Orlando team, Miami was without their two players who most often man those flex forward spots in James Johnson and Justise Winslow. As such, the HEAT found themselves often playing with two centers or four guards in the game – looks they’ll use over the course of the season but looks you want among a variety of options, not your only options (factoring in foul trouble for Derrick Jones Jr., the starter at the four spot).

If Johnson and Winslow are again out the HEAT will have to deal with a Washington team that also has a lot of versatility, with players like Markieff Morris, Otto Porter and newcomer Jeff Green all capable of scoring against shorter players in switch situations, not to mention the post scoring of John Wall. That doesn’t mean Miami can’t adjust with tough post defense – Richardson and McGruder are particularly pesty to enter the ball against – but it will be something they’ll have to prepare and actively adjust to.

Joe: No matter how you slice it, it’ll be tough if those guys are out once again.

By now you should know just how valuable Justise Winslow and James Johnson are to this team simply from a leadership standpoint. While Winslow often acts as Miami’s backup point guard and do-it-all aficionado, Johnson brings a fiery demeanor that is tough to replicate. When you also factor in Wayne Ellington’s remarkable shooting prowress and Dion Waiters’ ability to create off the dribble, you realize that the HEAT are missing some big pieces of the puzzle.

But as Erik Spoelstra likes to say, the team has enough to get the job done. And although guys like Markieff Morris and Otto Porter Jr. could give the HEAT some trouble, the HEAT will never back down from a challenge. If Derrick Jones Jr. can limit his fouls and McGruder can do what we all know he’s capable of, things should work themselves out.

3: Which of the new Washington additions could have the greatest impact in this matchup?

Couper: We’ve mentioned Green already, and Austin Rivers could help Washington have their most potent scoring unit off the bench in a few years, but if Dwight Howard is healthy and available (he’s questionable) he could change the look of the team a bit. Marcin Gortat was a solid and reliable pick-and-roll partner with Wall for years, but he was often a below-the-rim finisher and struggled with the length of Hassan Whiteside. Even later in his career, Howard is still a potent and powerful finisher in the paint when he’s locked into that role and could give the Wizards a more dynamic component to their offense. That said, that was the case with Charlotte last year as well and while it worked at times, Howard tried his hand at posting up Miami’s centers over and over last year and that wound up benefitting the HEAT.

Joe: Since Coup got into Dwight Howard, I’ll go with Austin Rivers. Above all else, the 26-year-old former Clipper adds even more firepower to an already strong offensive team.

How so?

Well, not only can Rivers attack off the dribble and initiate offense for others (he averaged a career-high 4.0 assists per game last year), but he can also score for himself. And when you already have to deal with the speedy John Wall and the ever-evolving Bradley Beal, things become even tougher.

With the Wizards having so many potent perimeter threats, Richardson, Dwyane Wade and Tyler Johnson (in addition to the guys I mentioned in my second response) really have to be sharp, and Miami’s bigs have to make decisions quickly in the pick-and-roll.  

We’ll see how it all plays out.

INJURY UPDATE:

Game Notes: