Wednesday night, Bradley Beal was a human highlight reel. The Washington Wizards guard put on a clinic against the Miami Heat. Beal broke a Heat defender ankles, rocked the rim, dunked on the head of arch rival Kelly Olynk and took over the fourth quarter.
However, Beal came up one highlight shot of a victory as he was unable to get the potential game-winning shot at the end of regulation. The Heat may have topped the Wizards 134-129 in overtime, yet, in a season that appears lost, Beal entertained all eyes on the game.
Beal finished with 38 points on 16-of-24 shooting from the field. His package of highlights got started when he shook Meyers Leonard into the next zip code with a nasty crossover.
That got Beal going. He put the Heat on notice with a thunderous swinging dunk.
Yet, that was not enough for Washington in the first half who fell behind 69-50 at halftime. The deficit didn’t last long, as the Wizards opened the third quarter on a 26-6 run to take their first lead of the game.
The moment was highlighted with Beal dunking over Olynk for the go-ahead score.
Beal also passed Gilbert Arenas on the Wizards’ all-time list for assists.
But the Wizards fell behind late in the third, and their deficit reached 10 points by the fourth quarter at 99-89. Yet, the Wizards chipped away. Then Beal took over the frame, scoring 10 points, including six unanswered, giving the Wizards a 118-115 lead.
After a James Johnson three tied the game and both teams traded empty possessions, Beal got the rebound off a Bam Adebayo miss with less than five seconds with a chance to win. Unfortunately Adebayo did a great job staying in front of Beal and his desperation three did not get off in time, sending the game into overtime.
Beal still shined scoring seven points, with a series of driving buckets. His last cut the Wizards’ deficit to 131-129 with 20 seconds remaining.
However, the Wizards were unable to close the job, as Bradley Beal missed a three with 10.6 seconds left that would have tied the game at 132-132.
It still was a great showing for the Wizards star, who is looking for his third consecutive trip to the All-Star Game. He added nine rebounds and five assists to his game-high 38 points. Only blemish on his night was his 2-of-8 shooting on three pointers.
Wednesday’s showing coupled with their Dec. 30 win shows the Wizards are a tough matchup for the contending Heat.
