WASHINGTON — This is what good teams do, deck a staggered, reeling opponent early and never really give them life.
Ahead 20 in the second quarter, the Heat watched the Wizards hang around for a bit, but then unleashed a 10-0 run to open the third, then a 15-0 spurt a bit later, and dispatched Washington 121-100 on Monday night at Capital One Arena.
Playing against a Wizards team that was without leading scorer Bradley Beal and had lost eight of its last nine, the Heat zipped to a 46-26 lead.
After that, Washington never drew closer than six points in the first half and nine points in the second half, unraveling during a 24-6 Heat run late in the third and early in the fourth.
Jimmy Butler and Duncan Robinson set the tone early, Bam Adebayo was a force of nature in the third, and Gabe Vincent was glorious off the bench.
Butler was very good offensively for a third consecutive game, closing with 19 points. Adebayo made five field goals in the third quarter - all in the basket area - and finished with 21 points and 7 boards.
And with Tyler Herro sitting out with knee inflammation, the Heat received a big bench boost from Vincent, who hit all four of his shots – including three threes - in an 11-point first half en route to finishing with 16, 8 assists and 2 steals.
Dwayne Dedmon (11) and Caleb Martin (15) also helped compensate for Herro’s absence.
A group of four reserves (Vincent, Dedmon, Martin, Max Strus) and Butler spearheaded an 8-0 run to close the third quarter that pushed the Heat lead to 91-70 after three.
Kyle Lowry (11 points, 5 assists) replaced Butler to start the fourth, and the run grew to 15-0.
After losing the first two games of this road trip at Boston and Toronto, the Heat has rebounded with three consecutive wins and closes the trip Thursday against the Pelicans.
And the Heat has held leads of 30 points in consecutive games for the first time since 2012.
Five takeaways from Miami’s win:
— For the second game in a row, Adebayo opened the third quarter with peak offensive aggression.
A night after equaling a career high with 21 field goal attempts in just three quarters against Charlotte, Adebayo took only four shots in the first half, including a nice turnaround jumper over the outstretched arms of Thomas Bryant, who at 6-10 has an inch on Adebayo.
But as was the case in Charlotte, Adebayo had his eyes squarely on the basket after halftime on Monday.
After taking seven shots in the third quarter at the Hornets, Adebayo attempted seven more in the third quarter, hitting five – four on dunks or layups, another on a nifty hook.
He took two other third-quarter shots that weren’t listed as field goals in the box score because he was fouled and nailed three of four free throws on those sequences.
Bottom line: Adebayo has had an unrelenting, will-not-be denied offensive mentality for two consecutive third quarters.
— With Herro out, Vincent capably filled the void.
The young swing guard, already a defensive pest, shot 43.3 percent on threes in January and on Monday produced his best offensive game of early February.
Vincent and Dedmon were the first two players off the Heat’s bench, and both made immediate impacts.
Vincent sank two quick threes, and Dedmon scored on a hook, a dunk and a three. Dedmon has now making him 16 for 29 on threes on the year.
Spoelstra has been using Vincent quite a bit alongside Lowry, and they’ve played well together, including a dynamic stretch early in the fourth quarter Monday when both sank three-pointers, including a 29-footer by Vincent.
Vincent’s floor game was very good, including several pinpoint baskets for easy conversions.
Max Strus, after missing one game with an injury, returned and went 11 minutes before taking his first shot, a three that he swished, followed shortly after that by another three.
Martin made his usual contribution, as Spoelstra again went nine deep.
— The Heat’s starting lineup - reunited last week for the first time since Thanksgiving weekend - once again did good work to start the third quarter.
In San Antonio, the Heat’s starting group stretched a 10-point halftime lead to 18.
In Charlotte, that group erased a five-point halftime deficit and launched the Heat on a 35-8 third-quarter demolition of the Hornets.
And on Monday, the Heat - ahead 60-53 at the half - opened the third on a 10-0 run before the Wizards closed to within nine and Erik Spoelstra went to his bench, with Vincent giving Lowry a rest. So the starting group was a plus two in the third.
The bench and Lowry then finished Washington off in the fourth.
— Butler continued a stretch of very efficient offensive play.
Butler has offered a clinic in crafty, resourceful moves around the basket during the past three games of this road trip, and that continued Monday on a night he shot 7 for 13.
Butler went 7 for 14 on a 17-point night against the Spurs and 10 for 13 against Charlotte, a week after a 14 for 25, 37-point night against Toronto.
The Heat’s All-Star player representative has very much validated his selection, even in a season when he has missed 19 games due to injury.
And it’s not just the efficiency, but the timing of the efficiency. After Washington closed to within 50-44, Butler sank a 12-foot jumper and then made a nifty spin move to push the lead back to double figures.
The Wizards drew no closer.
— Duncan Robinson got off to his first good start on this road trip.
Robinson entered 8 for his last 33 on three-pointers, while shooting 1 for 5 on two-pointers in those games.
He finished with 0, 6, 5, 17 and 3 points in those games, and he opened 0 for 3 in the 17-point game at San Antonio.
So it was encouraging to see Robinson sink three early three-pointers and then hit another in that run early in the third.
He finished with 12 points on 4 for 10 shooting, including 4 of 9 on threes.
