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WASHINGTON — Observations and other notes of interest from Monday night’s 120-94 victory over the Washington Wizards:
– The palate has been cleansed.
– The 76ers and Wizards arguably the perfect appetizers to restore confidence.
– Because the next three games will require at least that from Erik Spoelstra’s team.
– For all that has gone right during this resurrecting winning streak, there also is the reality of the five-game winning run being built with Charlotte, Philadelphia and Washington as part of that scheduling.
– Next up are the Celtics on Wednesday night at TD Garden.
– Then the Grizzlies on Thursday night at Kaseya Center.
– Followed by the Bucks on Saturday night at home.
– So no, no longer being able to seize upon the chum in lottery waters.
– And also tests of how real this all really is.
– As it was, with Washington in the modest of a league-worst tank-a–thon, it meant plenty of unknowns in the Wizards’ rotations.
– Asked about having to work around such a scout of uncertainty, Spoelstra said pregame, “There’s a couple different things to that. We always want to go through our prep and be professional about it, and going through the report and what are the keys.”
– He added, “But what we’ve been focusing on the last several weeks is just us. We need to fast track it. We’ve been working on our process. We have been hammering our habits and style of play that we can wrap our hands around that can lead to winning. We’ve been getting more consistent with that.”
– Spoelstra was asked at the morning shootaround about the Heat’s scoring balance in recent games, something a bit less the case in this one.
– “There’s a fluidity, guys are gaining confidence and just playing out of flow, making quick decisions,” he said. “We know where the ball is going to end up, with our usage guys. But we’re better when everybody is involved.”
– He added, “X-factors can make an impact and the process has been better. I like the direction it’s been going.”
– Against the Wizards, it again was a case of the Heat attempting to manage an opponent with a preference for a frenetic pace.
– “It feels like we’ve played a lot of fast-paced teams in the last couple weeks,” Spoelstra said. “So those keys are going to be very similar . . . not turning the ball over, making sure we’re getting the right shots on goal. That helps to get your defense set.”
– With Andrew Wiggins again out, the Heat for the second consecutive game opened with a lineup of Kel’el Ware, Bam Adebayo, Alec Burks, Tyler Herro and Pelle Larsson.
– In addition, the Heat remained without Duncan Robinson (back) and also were without Davion Mitchell (stomach illness)
– Haywood Highsmith played first off the bench.
– Followed by, in Mitchell’s absence, Terry Rozier.
– And then Kyle Anderson.
– With Jaime Jaquez Jr. entering in the second period to make it nine deep.
– The only available Heat players not to see action in the first half were returning G League players Josh Christopher, Keshad Johnson and Isaiah Stevens.
– This was the Heat’s lone appearance of the season in Washington, with the Wizards’ previous “home” game against the Heat this season coming in Mexico City.
– The victory was the Heat’s 100th against the Wizards in the Heat’s 37 seasons.
– Herro’s third basket moved him past Rony Seikaly and into eighth place on the Heat all-time list.
– With his fifth defensive rebound, Ware moved past Grant Long for fifth place on the Heat single-season rookie list.
– With his third 3-pointer of the night, in the first period, Wizards guard Jordan Poole set Washington’s single-season franchise record for 3-pointers, at 224. Bradley Beal was the previous record holder, with 223 in 2016-17.
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– The palate has been cleansed.
– The 76ers and Wizards arguably the perfect appetizers to restore confidence.
– Because the next three games will require at least that from Erik Spoelstra’s team.
– For all that has gone right during this resurrecting winning streak, there also is the reality of the five-game winning run being built with Charlotte, Philadelphia and Washington as part of that scheduling.
– Next up are the Celtics on Wednesday night at TD Garden.
– Then the Grizzlies on Thursday night at Kaseya Center.
– Followed by the Bucks on Saturday night at home.
– So no, no longer being able to seize upon the chum in lottery waters.
– And also tests of how real this all really is.
– As it was, with Washington in the modest of a league-worst tank-a–thon, it meant plenty of unknowns in the Wizards’ rotations.
– Asked about having to work around such a scout of uncertainty, Spoelstra said pregame, “There’s a couple different things to that. We always want to go through our prep and be professional about it, and going through the report and what are the keys.”
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– He added, “But what we’ve been focusing on the last several weeks is just us. We need to fast track it. We’ve been working on our process. We have been hammering our habits and style of play that we can wrap our hands around that can lead to winning. We’ve been getting more consistent with that.”
– Spoelstra was asked at the morning shootaround about the Heat’s scoring balance in recent games, something a bit less the case in this one.
– “There’s a fluidity, guys are gaining confidence and just playing out of flow, making quick decisions,” he said. “We know where the ball is going to end up, with our usage guys. But we’re better when everybody is involved.”
– He added, “X-factors can make an impact and the process has been better. I like the direction it’s been going.”
– Against the Wizards, it again was a case of the Heat attempting to manage an opponent with a preference for a frenetic pace.
– “It feels like we’ve played a lot of fast-paced teams in the last couple weeks,” Spoelstra said. “So those keys are going to be very similar . . . not turning the ball over, making sure we’re getting the right shots on goal. That helps to get your defense set.”
– With Andrew Wiggins again out, the Heat for the second consecutive game opened with a lineup of Kel’el Ware, Bam Adebayo, Alec Burks, Tyler Herro and Pelle Larsson.
– In addition, the Heat remained without Duncan Robinson (back) and also were without Davion Mitchell (stomach illness)
– Haywood Highsmith played first off the bench.
– Followed by, in Mitchell’s absence, Terry Rozier.
– And then Kyle Anderson.
– With Jaime Jaquez Jr. entering in the second period to make it nine deep.
– The only available Heat players not to see action in the first half were returning G League players Josh Christopher, Keshad Johnson and Isaiah Stevens.
– This was the Heat’s lone appearance of the season in Washington, with the Wizards’ previous “home” game against the Heat this season coming in Mexico City.
– The victory was the Heat’s 100th against the Wizards in the Heat’s 37 seasons.
– Herro’s third basket moved him past Rony Seikaly and into eighth place on the Heat all-time list.
– With his fifth defensive rebound, Ware moved past Grant Long for fifth place on the Heat single-season rookie list.
– With his third 3-pointer of the night, in the first period, Wizards guard Jordan Poole set Washington’s single-season franchise record for 3-pointers, at 224. Bradley Beal was the previous record holder, with 223 in 2016-17.
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