Washington Wizards: Where they stand in the Southeast Division, Part 4

In the final review of this four-part series, we finish by looking at how the Washington Wizards match up against the Miami Heat.

The Washington Wizards should face little to no resistance in finishing at the top of the Southeast Division in 2017-18. In this series we have covered their division rivals the Charlotte Hornets, Atlanta Hawks and the Orlando Magic. In case you missed the analysis of each matchup, they can be found in Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3.

The Miami Heat and the genius of Pat Riley likely pose the most realistic threat to the Washington Wizards. While the team definitively lost one of its best players in franchise history Chris Bosh, sound and quality additions were made this offseason. It may not be able to win many games against a healthy Washington Wizards core, but the Heat in a good place.

They just barely missed the playoffs last year but will be looking to take advantage of a weakened Eastern Conference. At the halfway mark they were failing at 11-30, but finished 2016-17 on a 30-11 tear. They were pushed out of the playoffs due to a tiebreaker with the Chicago Bulls.

With the additions Kelly Olynyk, who was on fire during the postseason, and the drafting of Bam Adebayo, the Heat will look to get the most out of the new arrivals.

Here are the key matchups the Washington Wizards will be facing come the regular season against the Miami Heat.

Key matchups to watch

John Wall will have the pleasure of taking on the task of slowing down Goran Dragic as they meet four times during 2017-18. Dragic had a career year at the age of 30, averaging 20.3 points per game on a slash line of .475/.405/.790 during 2016-17. He was a problem for defenses all year and in fact, the Wizards lost all four games to the Heat last season.

With Tyler Johnson having a solid year off the bench behind Dragic, they serve as a solid one-two punch for all four quarters. At shooting guard, the Heat have some depth and growing talent as well.

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Dion Waiters only appeared in 46 games during 2016-17 but put up numbers that may have pushed Miami into the playoffs if it was present all year. He averaged 15.8 points per game, shooting 42.4 percent from the field and 39.5 percent from the perimeter.

The Miami Heat have a strong backcourt that offers a tough matchup against the Wizards, but what about their frontcourt? For a team that struggled offensively, finishing 17th in the league, they have few woes on defense, finishing fifth with a defensive rating of 106.7 last year. One answer may be the addition of Kelly Olynyk to the rotation. Last year he had a career high offensive rating of 113 and put on a clinic against the Wizards during the postseason.

In front of Olynyk, that Washington Wizards will have the task of putting bodies on the monstrous Hassan Whiteside. During 2016-17, he had the most rebounds per game in the league with 14.1 as well a defensive rating of 99.9, which was fourth best in the league. As well as being an excellent defender, he finished 2016-17 with 17 points per game, two blocks per game and shot for 55.7 percent from the field.

Final thoughts

If the 2017-18 regular season can be one thing for the Washington Wizards, it is proving first in their own division that they are an elite group. The Wizards losing all four games to the Heat last year may not have been costly, but it is still unacceptable. In a weak Eastern Conference, the race to the playoffs will be interesting as several teams are rebuilding, while others are polishing their future.

The Washington Wizards have an excellent backcourt with John Wall and Bradley Beal and should be able to push the pace against Dragic and Waiters. However, if the Wizards do have a weak spot, it is in their frontcourt with Marcin Gortat and Markieff Morris. While it surely is not a knock against their talent, neither player possesses the level of talent Whiteside brings to the court and a dominant big will be a necessary in the coming years.

With all things taken into account, this is as tough of a matchup as the Wizards will face in their division. Coming off a year where they were swept in their regular season series against Miami, the Wizards should split the series 2-2 and it is always possible the Heat can be playoff contenders as well.

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The Washington Wizards are certainly front-runners in the Southeast Division, but they should look to be absolutely dominant during the 2017-18 season against the Heat in particular.