Miami Wins Brawl in Washington

Once again, the Miami Heat and Washington Wizards showed that there is definitely some bad blood between these clubs on opposite sides of the standings. Number one draft pick, John Wall, was ejected after taking a swing at Miami center Zydrunas Ilgauskas in the second quarter.  The Heat won in a game that should not have been this close. Coming off the heals of the loss in Cleveland the night before, a 123-107 victory against an 18-56 squad was not the confidence-builder Spoelstra undoubtedly had in mind. Miami was led by Lebron James who had 35 points, 8 rebounds, 8 assists and 5 steals. Dwyane Wade chipped in with 33 points and 9 assists.Leading all scorers was Jordan Crawford of the Wizards with 39.

Wall was aggressively defending Z at the three point arc when Ilgauskas began protecting the ball, accidentally hitting Wall at least once with his elbow. Wall took a swing at Z. JaValle McGee shows up to sort things out, Juwan Howard pushes McGee. Washington coach Flip Saunders steps into the fray...

Ten minutes later, after watching the replay, officials throw out Wall, Ilgauskas and Howard. McGee gets a technical, but is allowed to stay in the game. Washington led at this point 37-36. Without Wall to worry about, Miami went into the locker room with an eleven point lead. Washington hung around getting to within a point in the fourth quarter but the Heat finally put them away. With the obvious exception of the nightmare in Cleveland, Miami has done a much better job at closing out halves - both first and second. Though tonight's game was not against an elite team, the trend has been there.

And this is really important for the Heat right now: getting into good habits. But also this: if Miami, and the Big 3 in particular, step it up in the final minutes of games then they can stay away from "last shot " disease that has spread throughout this season. Win games before that need arises.

This was Miami sixth straight win in Washington.

Andray Blatche was not supposed to play but did so in effective fashion with 14 points and 8 boards. Chris Bosh had a solid game for the Heat with 26 points and 8 rebounds.

Juwan Howard was ejected back in November against this same Wizards team when he got into it a little with Washington's Hilton Armstrong. Back then he was protecting Joel Anthony. Tonight he was protecting Z. Say what you will about how much gas is left in Howard's tank, this guy is still tough. (Wasn't that right after the Dallas loss? Sometimes, as in hockey, maybe a fight can get a team going.)

The Big 3 combined for a ridiculous 94 points tonight. I know Mike Miller was not playing tonight, but the role players' contribution to the offense was once again less than stellar. Without Chalmers or Miller in the line-up, Eddie House and James Jones saw more playing time. Although Jones played some good defense and House hit both his three point attempts, neither were particularly effective. The same can be said of the Heat centers. Dampier and Anthony had unimpressive nights, leaving Miami's Big 3 to do almost all the heavy liftng.

When asked about the MVP award, Lebron James said: "I think Derrick Rose is definitely the leader." I guess it's all but official now. Lebron James has won the award twice. Dwyane Wade probably never will. Is D Rose better than D Wade? (Do you really want me to answer that?)

Next up: Friday night at Minnesota.