MIAMI – The Miami Heat had only one job Sunday at Kaseya Center.
Mission accomplished: No one got hurt.
And, yet, an afternoon that still stung, in an all-too-familiar fashion.
With most of Erik Spoelstra’s rotation given the afternoon off ahead of Wednesday night’s win-or-go-home play-in road game against the Chicago Bulls, the Heat played their game as required against the Washington Wizards.
They also fell as has been all too typical in this 37-45 season, this time a Bub Carrington driving basket at the buzzer lifting the Wizards to a 119-118 victory.
It was the Heat’s league-worst 21st blown fourth-quarter lead of the season, dropping them to 3-11 in games decided by three or fewer points.
With Bam Adebayo, Tyler Herro, Andrew Wiggins and other rotation components spending the day as spectators, the Heat got a career-high 41 points as well as 10 rebounds and seven assists from Jaime Jaquez Jr. amid the chill vibe of already being locked into the No. 10 play-in seed.
Of the regulars who saw action, Kel’el Ware closed with 13 points and four rebounds in 20 minutes, and Davion Mitchell with four points and eight assists in 20.
The Heat also got 17 points apiece from seldom-used Josh Christopher and Keshad Johnson.
Five Degrees of Heat from Sunday’s game:
— Closing time: The Wizards led 30-28 after the first quarter, 66-60 at halftime and 94-86 after the third quarter.
From there, the Heat drew within two early in the fourth quarter, by which point Spoelstra had cleared his bench beyond Jaquez, allowing the offense to flow through Jaquez and Christopher.
Then, with 90 seconds to play, Johnson completed a driving 3-point play for a 114-114 tie.
Jaquez followed with a pair of free throws to complete a 9-0 run and put the Heat up 116-114.
But a backcourt violation followed by Carrington’s basket ended the regular season with a loss.
— New look: Among those who have been in the recent rotation, only Ware, Mitchell, Haywood Highsmith, Duncan Robinson and Kyle Anderson played.
That had the Heat opening with a lineup of Ware, Highsmith, Robinson, Mitchell and Jaquez.
By the middle of the opening period, Spoelstra had cycled in Johnson, Josh Christopher, Anderson and Terry Rozier.
Those were the only nine the Heat had available in uniform.
Rookies Pelle Larsson and Isaiah Stevens also would have played if not for injuries.
“It’s a shame that we won’t have Isaiah or Pelle, but that’s the way it goes,” Spoelstra said, with Stevens out with foot soreness, Larsson with an ankle sprain.
Because of their two-way contracts, neither Christopher nor Stevens are eligible for the postseason.
— Making the most: Having fallen out of the rotation, Jaquez again maximized minutes against a bottom-tier opponent, up to 19 points by the intermission.
After scoring 14 in the previous matchup against the Wizards two weeks ago and 11 on Friday night in New Orleans, he was in double figures this time by the opening minutes of the second period.
Amid season-long struggles from beyond the arc, it was the third consecutive game he converted a 3-pointer.
Jaquez’s previous season high was 20 and his previous career high 31.
— Setting a tone: Michell and Ware made the most of their early minutes.
Mitchell had five assists in his opening nine-minute stint, with no other Heat player with more than one in the opening period.
Ware had nine points, including a 3-pointer, and three rebounds, in his opening stint.
— Lottery leanings: With the loss the Heat stayed ahead of the Bulls in the lottery standings, at No. 11 in those seedings pending the Phoenix Suns’ late game against the Sacramento Kings.
The Heat keep their lottery pick if they do not advance through the play-in to the ...
