There was no Bradley Beal, and the Washington Wizards were facing Jimmy Butler and the upstart Miami Heat. The Wizards touted out an unrecognizable starting five, yet, they got career nights from Ian Mahinmi and Garrison Mathews and a big night for Jordan McRae to stun the Heat 123-105 at Capital One Arena.
Mahinmi went 6-of-6 from the field, scoring 14 points in the first quarter. He would finish with a career-high 25 points on 10-of-11 shooting from the field.
Mahinmi has returned with a new focus it appears. Through his first three injury-plagued seasons with the Wizards, Mahinmi struggled on both ends of the floor and was a liability for the Wizards.
However, in his first 12 games back this season, Mahinmi has been a strong asset in the absence of Thomas Bryant, Mortiz Wagner and Davis Bertans out. His new focus was highlighted Monday night against Miami.
Mathews had an historic night scoring a career-high 28 points. He did so on nine field goal attempts, putting him in a rare category.
Mathews was near perfect from the free throw line, making 12-of-13 attempts. He was fouled three times shooting threes. With the win in hand, Wizards fans serenaded the undrafted shooter with “M-V-P” chants.
McRae added a game-high 29 points, knocking down six-three pointers. McRae sparked the bench for a franchise-best 80 bench points.
It was an unlikely trio, especially with Beal, Bertans, Bryant and Rui Hachimura out, to topple the Miami Heat. The Heat are 24-9 following the loss and third in the Eastern Conference standings.
The Wizards improve to 10-22 with the win. While the season has been a struggle with such a young unproven team, Monday’s win will certainly be one of the more memorable moments of the season.
