Heat at Wizards
THE STORY: With nothing to play for, the Miami Heat will rest their star players as they conclude the regular season at the Washington Wizards on Thursday night. The watered-down Heat will be a familiar sight for the Wizards, who won at Miami on Saturday with LeBron James and Chris Bosh sitting out and Dwyane Wade heading to the bench with a dislocated finger in the opening minutes. The Heat are locked into the No. 2 seed entering the playoffs.
TV: 8 p.m. ET, SUN, CSW
ABOUT THE HEAT (46-19): Miami sat out its Big 3 on Tuesday night in Boston and the result was an unwatchable performance in a 78-66 loss to the Celtics, who were also without their top players. So dreadful was the team's play that forward Shane Battier told the media afterward to take a shower to "get the stink of this game off you.” The Heat committed 25 turnovers in the debacle and the leading scorer was Dexter Pittman with 12 points.
ABOUT THE WIZARDS (17-48): Better late than never. Washington is closing out the season with a flourish, extending its winning streak to five games entering Thursday’s season finale. John Wall had 21 points and 13 assists to lift the Wizards to a 96-85 victory in Cleveland on Wednesday. It was the fourth consecutive game with double-digit assists for the former No. 1 overall pick, who is averaging 16 points and 12.5 assists in that span.
BUZZER BEATERS:
1. Heat F Chris Bosh will sit out his sixth consecutive game.
2. Washington will be seeking its first six-game winning streak since Nov. 11-21, 2007.