MIAMI — John Wall’s knee was fine, and the Miami Heat thought he and the Washington Wizards got a little extra help in the final moments.
Wall scored 26 points one night after leaving a game with a sore right knee and Gary Neal added 21 points, including a debated 3-pointer with just over a minute left, as the Wizards beat the Heat, 114-103, on Monday night.
Bradley Beal scored 21 points and Otto Porter finished with 13 points and 14 rebounds for Washington, which never trailed in the fourth quarter.
“I’m probably one of the toughest people you’ll see,” Wall said. “I’m a competitor. I can’t say if it wasn’t broke I wouldn’t play because I did that before, but it was just a time that we really want to play well.”
The night was both dubious and maddening for the Heat. It was the first time in team history that Miami shot 59 percent in a game and lost. The Heat shot 58 percent in a loss to the Seattle SuperSonics in 1990.
Although the final margin was 11 points, the Heat would argue that one play changed everything. Miami’s contention was that Beal traveled when he lost control of the ball and regained it under the basket with 1:10 remaining. Beal sent it to Neal for a 3-pointer from the right corner that put Washington up five points and essentially served as the clincher.
Miami’s Chris Bosh was ejected not long afterward, only the second time in his 13-year career he’s been kicked out of a game.
“It was a travel,” Bosh said. “No, I didn’t watch it. There’s no need to watch it. I know what happened. … You can’t travel. It’s a travel. You can’t go to the rim and catch your own ball when you come down.”
Dwyane Wade led Miami with 26 points and nine assists. Goran Dragic added 20 points and nine assists and Bosh scored 18 points for Miami, which fell out of first place in the Eastern Conference.
Hassan Whiteside scored 14 points for Miami on 7-for-7 shooting, but wasn’t on the floor at all in the fourth as the Heat tried to deal with Washington’s small lineup.
“This is the NBA right now,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “Welcome to this league. Everybody has a speed-space lineup. You have to be able to adapt, you have to be able to contain the basketball and keep the ball out of the paint with different lineups.”
Miami was down eight points midway through the fourth, then rallied to tie the game twice — first on a short jumper from Wade in the lane, then on a pair of free throws by Dragic with 2:28 left.
Beal had a steal and dunk to put Washington back on top, and about a minute later Neal hit the debated 3-pointer.
“If you play at that intensity level every night, it (doesn’t) matter who you have available,” Wizards coach Randy Wittman said.
Wall declared himself ready to go before the game, and didn’t get added to the list of standouts who’ve missed games against the Heat this season. Among those who’ve been in suits instead of sneakers when their teams faced Miami: Kyrie Irving, Dwight Howard, DeMarre Carroll, Kobe Bryant, Rudy Gobert, DeMarcus Cousins and LeBron James.
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