MIAMI _ Erik Spoelstra wasn't about to deny the obvious as the Miami Heat headed into Monday night's game against the Washington Wizards at AmericanAirlines Arena.
"Our guys aren't oblivious," Spoelstra said. "We know what our record is at home."
And also knew the opportunity at hand at the start of this season-longest six-game homestand.
So guard Goran Dragic said enough was enough, scoring 34 points in the 112-101 victory that lifted the Heat to 3-8 at home, his scoring high as a member of the Heat.
And James Johnson returned from the injured list to spark the Heat with energetic play at as a point center, as the Heat played most of the fourth quarter with Hassan Whiteside on the bench.
Whiteside still got his, with 17 points and 16 rebounds, with Johnson adding 14 points.
John Wall led the Wizards with 30 points, with Bradley Beal adding 29, as Washington fell for the second time in as many meetings, as the Heat snapped their five-game losing streak.
This time the Heat found their closer at the finish, when needed.
Dragic weaved his way to a 14-foot pull-up jumper with 6:25 to play for a 100-93 Heat lead. He then made a pair of free throws to again put the Heat up seven, at 102-95. Johnson again made the lead seven, with a 13-foot pull-up jumper with 3:59 left.
Later, with the Heat up 104-99, Whiteside entered for the first time in the fourth quarter with 3:18 to play. Dragic followed with a pull-up bank shot for a 106-99 Heat lead. Later, a Dragic step-back jumper with 1:40 left put the Heat up 108-101, with a Whiteside alley-oop dunk effectively ending it.
Saddled with four fouls, Dragic returned to start the fourth quarter, with Whiteside given a breather. The Heat went so small that Johnson was the Heat center opening the fourth.
The Heat bolstered their rotation with forwards Johnson and Luke Babbitt cleared to return from the injuries that kept them from the just completed 0-3 trip.
Johnson was back after missing the previous four games with a strained right rotator cuff.
"It's tender, but it's just sore," Johnson said. "You can get it tender by lifting weights. You can get it tender by running."
The Heat remained without forward Justise Winslow (wrist) and Dion Waiters (groin), with neither cleared yet for contact work.
It nonetheless left the Heat with 12 players in uniform, after going with eight or nine during the three-game trip.
The Heat got a jolt just 1:32 into the second half when Dragic was called for his fourth foul, already up to 21 points at that stage. With Josh Richardson stepping in for Dragic, the Heat then pushed to an 11-point lead.
The Wizards then pushed back with Dragic on the bench, closing the third period up 82-81, with Whiteside up to 14 points and 13 rebounds by then, with Beal up to 27 points by that stage for the Wizards.
With Dragic scoring 18 in the first half, the Heat went from an eight-point second-quarter deficit to a 59-53 halftime lead, ending the second period on a 15-4 run, making 10 consecutive shots before missing their final attempt of the half.
Whiteside was up to eight points and nine rebounds at the intermission, with Beal at 19 points at that stage for the Wizards.
The Heat trailed 29-28 at the end of the opening period, going a sixth consecutive game with a starting lineup of Whiteside, Dragic, Wayne Ellington, Josh McRoberts and Rodney McGruder, a lineup that entered 0-5.
McRoberts had his moments at the outset, with six rebounds and five points in the opening period. The Wizards countered with 11 first-quarter points from Beal.
The game opened a six-game homestand for the Heat that continues with Wednesday's nationally televised game against the Indiana Pacers on ESPN.
The Heat won the first game of the four-game season series 114-111 Nov. 19 at the Verizon Center, behind 22 points from Dragic, and 18 points and 18 rebounds from center Whiteside, even with Wall and Beal both scoring 34 points for the Wizards.
The Heat entered having won three of the previous four meetings, but had split the two games at AmericanAirlines Arena in each of the past two seasons.
