Miami is 1-7 in its last eight games.
The Washington Wizards are hosting the Miami Heat Friday night in the second game of a weeklong homestand. The 9-38 Wizards are coming off a blowout loss to the Los Angeles Clippers, while the 25-23 Heat just beat the Sacramento Kings to snap a seven-game skid.
With Jordan Poole out against the Clippers, Bilal Coulibaly notched his second career start. The rookie excelled in the spotlight, posting 19 points on 8-for-16 shooting to compliment his four rebounds and two assists.
It is difficult to predict the key matchups for Friday’s game because of the way Erik Spoelstra’s squad tends to punt on the regular season. The Heat are not a particularly formidable regular season opponent, but they are an absolute nightmare to face in the playoffs; just ask the Bucks, Sixers, Knicks and especially the Celtics. That being said, Bam Adebayo (who will presumptively have been named an All-Star within a few minutes of this preview’s release) is the key matchup to watch versus Daniel Gafford. If the trade deadline buzz surrounding Gafford is to be believed, the Gafford-Adebayo matchup should be a pretty important one.
Heat-Wizards tips off at 7 p.m. Friday night.