Heat pull away for rout of Wizards
The Miami Heat took control of a close game in the second quarter and handily defeated the visiting Washington Wizards 129-102 on Saturday night at AmericanAirlines Arena.
James Johnson led a balanced Miami scoring attack with 20 points while Wayne Ellington scored 17 off the bench.
Josh Richardson, Rodney McGruder, Tyler Johnson and Kelly Olynyk had 13 each, while Justise Winslow and Goran Dragic had 10 apiece.
Jodie Meeks scored 23 points for Washington, and Bradley Beal had 14.
The Heat have won six of their past eight games.
The Wizards were coming off a 116-97 road win over New Orleans that snapped the Pelicans' 10-game winning streak, and they played their second of back-to-back games, again without star guard John Wall.
The Heat earned a 108-99 home win over Philadelphia on Thursday but were facing Washington without Hassan Whiteside, who scored a game-high 26 points in the victory over the 76ers.
The center, out with a hip injury, leads Miami in rebounding and blocked shots.
The clubs were meeting for the second time in just five days, as the host Wizards topped the Heat 117-113 in overtime on Tuesday.
The Heat started fast Saturday, getting dunks from James Johnson, Bam Adebayo and Tyler Johnson in a 12-4 run in the first four minutes as Miami started its 21st different lineup.
However, Tyler Johnson and Dragic, the Heat's starting guards, got into foul trouble with a pair each to put them on the bench midway through the quarter.
Miami connected on 13 of 18 field-goal attempts inside the arc to lead 26-20 after 12 minutes as James Johnson had eight points.
The Heat increased the lead to 60-48 at halftime by streaking on a 9-0 in the last two minutes and shooting 61 percent from the floor.
Miami took control in the third quarter when it produced its biggest leads of the game.
Miami held a 17-point advantage with 8:24 left in the third after Richardson's dunk through the lane made it 73-56. The Heat later led by as many as 29 points.
A 43-point third quarter -- Miami's highest of the season -- left the Heat with a commanding 103-76 lead.
Both teams scored 26 points in the fourth as they emptied the benches.
--Field Level Media
