Washington Wizards vs Miami Heat Prediction: Miami to have an upper hand

Washington has lost 3 out of the last 4 games on the home court to Miami, and now the capital club will try to improve their head-to-head stats. Bookmakers estimate the chances of the teams as roughly equal, so who will win?

As the regular season has gone on, there is a feeling that Washington has not lived up to its offensive potential. Bradley Beal is far from his career-high in stats, Kyle Kuzma is among the league's worst three-point shooters, and the role-players are unstable. Will Barton started the season shooting well from beyond the arc, but is having a poor year overall with less than 40 percent shooting and his worst 8.8 points per game in nine years. At least Corey Kispert is encouraging, hitting 40% of his three-pointers. The Wizards could also improve on defense with the return of Delon Wright, but for now he is unable to play due to injury. Jordan Goodwin has played good in some games but his participation in Miami game is questionable.

Wes Unseld Jr. had 4 wins in last 5 regular season games and Bradley Beal missed all of them. Kristaps Porzingis was the offensive leader, scoring 25.5 points per game and hitting 48.4 percent of his threes. Porzingis was the high-scoring scorer for Washington last game but lost to Oklahoma State 120-121 with 27 points. The Wizards led by as many as 13 points after the first half, but lost their entire lead in the third quarter. The Capitals made only 3 of their 14 three-pointers after the break and that was one of the main reasons for their loss.

Miami Heat have a major roster problem right now and will have a hard time even maintaining their current 10th place in the Eastern Conference soon. Tyler Herro hasn't played for quite some time now and he won't take to the floor against Washington either. Caleb Martin and Bam Adebayo are questionable, and the Heat's primary center missed the previous game. Adebayo's replacement, DeWayne Dedmon, is also in danger of missing the game against the Wizards, while Omer Yurtseven and Victor Oladipo have been sidelined since the start of the regular season. As a result, rookie Nikola Jovic, who has been out of the starting five for quite some time, is now in the starting lineup.

Nevertheless, the Heat have won 3 of their last 4 regular-season games, and one of the Western Conference favorites, Phoenix, has been among the defeated. Adebayo appeared in all three games he won, averaging 24 points. Erik Spoelstra's men could not manage 104-112 against Toronto in Bam's absence. Miami didn't have much trouble on offense as 7 of 9 rotation players made 50% of their shots. But under the basket the Heat made a mess, conceding more than half of their points in the paint and giving their opponent 16 offensive rebounds. Max Strus again was the most productive player on the team with 20 points.

Much will depend on whether or not Bam Adebayo can play in the upcoming game. Miami can make up for the absence of their starting center on the offensive line, but there are significant problems under the basket. Washington has plenty of good offensive players, but their defense is in trouble. The Wizards are hitting over 38% of their threes, and their opponent should take advantage of that, as they have Max Strus, Duncan Robinson, Gabe Vincent and Kyle Lowry to play with from distance. The Heat were pretty good at creating open shots against Toronto, the main thing is to keep it up. Our prediction for the Washington-Miami game is as follows:

• TO (217.5) for 1.97;
• W2 (incl. OT) for 2.05;
• H2 (-3.5) for 3.30.

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