MIAMI — John Wall scored 27 points, Bradley Beal had 26 and the Washington Wizards overcame a dreadful third quarter to beat the Miami Heat 102-93 on Wednesday night.
Markieff Morris scored 15 points and Otto Porter Jr. finished with 12 points and 13 rebounds for the Wizards.
Goran Dragic scored 21 points for Miami. Dion Waiters finished with 19, Tyler Johnson had 15 and Hassan Whiteside scored 14 points and grabbed 21 rebounds for the Heat — who were 4-0 against the Wizards last season.
Miami led by seven early in the fourth, before the Wizards closed the game on a 29-13 run. Washington also turned 17 Heat turnovers into 26 points.
Beal put the game away with four free throws with 1:23 left, the first one coming after Johnson — steaming that no foul was called when Wall chased him down in transition and forced him into a miss at the rim moments earlier — got hit with a technical foul, and the next three after he got hit by Waiters on an attempt from beyond the arc.
Beal had 10 of his points in the fourth for Washington, which has held four straight opponents under 100 points. Beal was 13 for 14 from the line and the Wizards were 29 for 31, while Miami was 16 for 19.
Down by as many as 13 in the first half, the Heat found their defense in the third quarter.
Washington missed its first nine shots after intermission, Miami outscored the Wizards 25-10 in the third and the Heat - who didn’t lead for a single second of the first half - took a 74-71 lead into the final 12 minutes. Dragic had nine points in the third, all on 3-pointers.
And it wasn’t like the Heat were sizzling on offense. They shot 36 percent in the third, while holding Washington to 21 percent.
But the Wizards outscored Miami 31-19 in the fourth.
Beal shot 3 for 5 in that rough third quarter for Washington, and his teammates combined to shoot 1 for 14 in those 12 minutes. Porter and Morris were 9 for 11 in the first half, then 0 for 5 in the third.
Morris fouled out with 5:04 left, then picked up his second technical foul of the quarter for good measure and was ejected as well.
Whiteside had eight rebounds in the first quarter, then eight more rebounds in the third.
Dragic has at least one 3-pointer in 15 consecutive games, tying the longest streak of his career.
Miami started 10 for 10 from the line.
James Johnson’s struggles continued, and he was 1 for 5 in 27 minutes.
The Heat announced that forward Okaro White will have surgery Thursday to repair a fractured left foot. White was injured during practice on Tuesday. He’s averaging 3.3 points in 13 minutes per game this season. No timetable has been set for his return, but White said he’ll need at least 4-6 weeks before he can even put weight on the foot after surgery.
Washington outscored Miami in each of the first two quarters, and that meant the Wizards were 13-1-1 in their last 15 quarters spanning parts of five games. The Heat outscored Washington by 15 in the third quarter.
The teams meet again in Washington on Friday night. It’s the first time the Heat and Wizards have played consecutive games since 2004-05.
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