Washington Wizards: 3 takeaways from preseason loss against Heat

The Washington Wizards were ultimately failed by the play of their bench players as the Miami Heat won in the closing seconds of this preseason matchup, 117-115.

Scott Brooks should certainly be a bit concerned with his team’s defense as a whole after this tough loss. The Washington Wizards‘ preseason winning steak came to an end as the Miami Heat was able to defeat the Wizards without three of their key starters. Goran Dragic, Hassan Whiteside and Dion Waiters were all rested for the night.

Brooks set the starting rotation for the night with John Wall, Bradley Beal, Otto Porter Jr., Jason Smith and Marcin Gortat. On paper, this game should not have even been close with the Heat missing half their starters, but this was not the case.

The game started well for the Wizards, holding the Heat to just 19 points in the first quarter. As the game went on, the Heat picked up the pace and never scored less than 30 points each quarter.

The Washington Wizards led by as much as 13 at one point, but it began to go downhill when the bench allowed a 10-0 Miami Heat run. They would take a short-lived lead during the third quarter, but John Wall and the rest of the starters scored on the next possession.

The game appeared to be in the Wizards’ control until the bench blew a lead late in the fourth quarter and could not defend well in the clutch, giving up a 3-pointer with 1.4 seconds left to give Miami the win.

Despite the Wizards shooting for 50 percent from the field, the Heat performed just as well, shooting 49.4 percent from the field 40 percent as a team from beyond the arc.

Here are three quick takeaways from the Washington Wizards’ first preseason loss in 2017-18.