{"id":28994,"date":"2021-02-04T08:51:33","date_gmt":"2021-02-04T08:51:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportsrabbi.com\/?p=28994"},"modified":"2024-11-03T09:31:17","modified_gmt":"2024-11-03T09:31:17","slug":"wizards-flash-defensive-capability-in-win-over-heat-as-deni-avdija-continues-steps-in-development","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportsrabbi.com\/en\/wizards-flash-defensive-capability-in-win-over-heat-as-deni-avdija-continues-steps-in-development\/","title":{"rendered":"Wizards flash defensive capability in win over Heat as Deni Avdija continues steps in development"},"content":{"rendered":"

One common theme for the Washington Wizards is always to expect the unexpected. They lost to the Atlanta Hawks at home just to upset the more talented Brooklyn Nets. Then they lost to the Portland Trail Blazers who were on the second night of a back-to-back just to upset the Miami Heat on the road on Washington’s own second night of a back-to-back. With a better effort defensively, the Wizards came back from a 13 point second-half deficit to win, 103-100. Deni Avdija had 13 points on 5-for-9 shooting and four rebounds in 33 minutes of play.
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Deni Avdija – Photo Credit: Washington Wizards<\/p><\/div>
\nFollowing an 8 pm tipoff in D.C. on Tuesday vs. the Blazers, the Wizards did not arrive at their hotel in Miami until 4 am. Bradley Beal personally did not get to sleep until 5:30 am and had to be up by 8 am for the team’s daily morning COVID-19 testing. Despite limited sleep, Beal still had a game-high 32 points<\/a><\/strong> against a smart Heat defense that often doubled him. The NBA’s leading scorer gave Washington just enough with Russell Westbrook resting in the second night of a back-to-back, but it was allowing the Heat just 35 second-half points that got the Wizards a comeback victory. Miami shot just 29 percent from the field in the second half.<\/p>\n

“The zone affected them a lot tonight. We kind of mixed it in and they didn’t know how to beat it,” Beal said. “We did a good job of just matching up, being physical, making them take and make tough shots.”<\/p>\n

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Deni Avdija with a monster rack attack \ud83d\ude33 pic.twitter.com\/aWWtWdqjaB<\/a><\/p>\n

— Hoop District (@Hoop_District) February 4, 2021<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n