Miami Heat: Top 10 moments of the 2018-19 NBA season
By Simon Smith
10. Kelly Olynyk‘s game-winner produces the first win of the season
Having suffered a narrow 104-101 opening night loss to the Orlando Magic, the Heat were clearly more than desperate to register their first win of the season.
Being on the second night of a back-to-back, the challenge of taking on the Washington Wizards on the road was always going to be tough. This certainly proved to be the case, with the game producing 20 lead changes and neither team leading by more than single figures.
Ultimately, the game came down to the final six seconds, with the Heat emerging from their timeout trailing 112-111. To the surprise of no one, the Heat went to Dwyane Wade for the final shot, with Wade getting off a contested 22-foot turnaround shot that bounced high off the rim.
While not the most athletically gifted player on the floor, it was the instincts of Kelly Olynyk to read the ball coming off the rim, and grab the ensuing rebound and lay the ball in that ultimately put the Heat ahead with just 0.2 seconds remaining.
https://twitter.com/MiamiHEAT/status/1053118866178691073
Following the game, Olynyk commented on his last-second heroics:
"“You know he (Wade) is going to get a shot off, and you’re looking for an opportunity to move into space….and when you see the shot in motion, you know you’ve got to go to the glass, and the ball came off in a great spot and I was able to lay it in quickly before the time ran out.”"
For the season, the Heat won three of their four games for the season against the Wizards, with their sole loss one of a number of costly games dropped on their home floor.