MIAMI — Hassan Whiteside liked the fast pace the Miami Heat played with the night before in a road victory over the Atlanta Hawks — and wanted to be a part of it.
Whiteside had 25 points and 23 rebounds in his return from a one-game suspension to help the Heat beat the Washington Wizards, 114-94, on Saturday night.
“I couldn’t wait to get back out here,” Whiteside said.
Whiteside was suspended for throwing an elbow at San Antonio Spurs center Boban Marjanovic’s head on Feb. 9.
Bradley Beal lead the Wizards with 19 points.
Washington played for the third consecutive day and was looking for a rare third win in as many days after beating the Utah Jazz and Detroit Pistons, but the Wizards fell behind by double digits early.
“They outplayed us,” Wizards coach Randy Wittman said. “You’ve got to give credit where credit is due. They played harder than we did. They played with more bounce in their step right from the start. We didn’t come out with that same zip and they took advantage of it.”
Luol Deng had 27 points a night after scoring 30 points at Atlanta, and Goran Dragic added a season-high 24 points and had eight assists and seven rebounds.
It was the first time the Heat had scored at least 110 points in back-to-back games all season.
“We wanted to play a faster pace,” Spoelstra said. “I know fans love to see this and I know our players like to play in it.”
The Heat played without all-stars Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh for the second consecutive game. Wade has a sore left knee, and Bosh is out indefinitely because of a blood clot in his left leg.
The Heat jumped out to a 15-5 lead with Dragic scoring seven points in the fast start.
“We’re a whole different team when he’s staying aggressive,” Whiteside said.
Miami stayed out in front of Washington as Whiteside converted a three-point play and moments later had a lay-up to give the Heat a 50-30 lead — their largest of the first half — as they were up, 59-44, at the break.
“At the end of the day, people can say we were tired but we still should have competed at a better level,” Wizards point guard John Wall said.
The Heat led by double digits the entire second half and finished shooting 49 percent while holding Washington to 40.4 percent shooting.
It was only the 11th time in history that a player has had at least 20 points and 20 rebounds in a game off the bench. It was Whiteside’s second 20-20 game in his career. He had 24 points and 20 rebounds at the Minnesota Timberwolves on Feb. 4, 2015.
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