Wizards 99, Heat 97
Nene scored 20 points and Bradley Beal added 17 as host Washington survived a furious second-half rally to beat short-handed Miami.
Marcin Gortat collected 14 points and 17 rebounds for the Wizards, who squandered most of a 35-point lead before holding on to win for only the second time in nine games. Drew Gooden added 11 points off the bench and John Wall dished out 12 assists.
Goran Dragic tallied 18 points and seven assists and Shabazz Napier added 16 points off the bench for the Heat, who were without Chris Bosh (blood clot), Dwyane Wade (hip), Luol Deng (thigh) and Mario Chalmers (knee) and lost Dragic to a lower back contusion in the third quarter. Michael Beasley scored 13 points and Tyler Johnson and James Ennis each had 10.
The Wizards opened a double-digit lead just four minutes into the game and used a 14-0 run later in the first quarter to push it to 36-13. Washington led 40-18 after one quarter and took a 67-39 lead to the break — their largest halftime lead of the season — by shooting 52.8 percent while holding Miami to 37.1 percent in the first half.
The margin reached 35 points on Gortat's basket with 7:09 left in the third quarter before the Heat closed the quarter with a 25-5 run to claw within 88-73 entering the fourth. Beasley did all of his scoring in the fourth quarter and Johnson's tip-in with 1:07 left brought Miami within 98-97, but Henry Walker missed a potential go-ahead 3-pointer and the Heat didn't get a shot off on their final possession.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Washington set season highs for first-quarter points (40) and first-half points (67). … Miami's 34 points in the third quarter marked its highest-scoring third period of the season. … Gortat has grabbed double-digit rebounds in a season-high seven straight games and has five double-doubles during that stretch.