WASHINGTON _ The last time the Heat visited the nation's capital the day before New Year's Eve, Miami allowed 28 points in 29 minutes to someone named Garrison Matthews and sustained its first genuinely deplorable loss of the season.
There have been far too many of those bad losses since _ eight against teams with losing records since Jan. 9 _ but Miami avoided such a fate Sunday, rallying from an eight-point fourth quarter deficit to beat Washington, 100-89, at Capital One Arena.
Already playing without Tyler Herro and Meyers Leonard, the Heat lost Jimmy Butler for good late in the third quarter with a left toe injury. Butler was oddly passive _ attempting just four shots and not producing a rebound or assist _ before departing with the injury.
Kendrick Nunn and Duncan Robinson broke up a close game with huge three-pointers in the final three minutes, including two by Robinson. The Heat, which improved to 14-19 on the road, had entered with 10 losses in its previous 13 road games.
The Heat got 23 points from Robinson _ including seven threes _ and a monster night from Bam Adebayo (27 points, 14 rebounds, 6 assists). And Nunn, who missed most of the third quarter after picking up his fourth foul, scored 18, including the big late three.
The Wizards got 23 points from Bradley Beal and 27 for former Heat point guard Shabazz Napier.
Five takeaways:
_ The injury likely was a factor, but Butler needs to look for his shot more particularly on nights like this, when the Heat is short-handed and the Heat's perimeter players are shooting poorly.
Midway through the third quarter, Butler had attempted only two shots (both conversions), though he did have six free throw attempts by that point. He took just four shots in 24 minutes before leaving the game for good.
He seems too unselfish at times, such as when he was under the basket with the ball in the third quarter but instead opted to pass to Derrick Jones Jr. for a corner three that was off.
Though the Heat entered just 7-7 when Butler scores at least 25, there are nights _ such as this one _ where he might need to look for his own shot more, especially when he drives to the basket.
_ Bam Adebayo schooled a center who was starting against him for the first time.
Thomas Bryant has made 73 NBA starts, but this was his first against Adebayo.
"He better be ready," Wizards coach Scott Brooks said of Bryant before the game. "The guy (Adebayo) is going to attack and make plays. He's a great passer. That's what makes him a special player."
As Brooks predicted, Adebayo was aggressive from the outset, driving for baskets and dunking off two alley oops in a 14-point, 4-rebound first half. Bryant who entered averaging 12.3 points and 6.9 rebounds, went scoreless in the first half and later fouled out with two points and three rebounds.
_ Robinson's magical season continued with another record.
Robinson hit a three in the first minute, equaling Rafer Alston's franchise record for consecutive games with at least one three-pointer (49).
In the first six minutes, Robinson hit two threes, a nifty driving layup and a beautiful pass to Adebayo for a dunk. Nothing, apparently, is out of Robinson's range. His third three-point conversion came from 33 feet.
But with seven threes Sunday in nine attempts, he fell short of matching Steph Curry's and Damian Lillard's NBA record of hitting at least eight three-pointers in three consecutive games.
_ Erik Spoelstra again went to Solomon Hill in the absence of Jae Crowder and the bench generally was less productive than it had been in recent weeks.
Crowder wanted to play but was held out due to the NBA's concussion protocol system, even though he had no symptoms.
In his absence, Spoelstra gave 29 minutes to Hill, who played just 23 minutes in his first month with the Heat. Hill had five points, four rebounds and three assists. The Heat's second unit, which had played very well recently, shot just 5 for 17 collectively..
_ The Heat drew closer to third in the East.
The Heat's win _ combined with Boston's overtime loss to Oklahoma City _ left Miami 1.5 games back of the Celtics.
Meanwhile, Indiana won at Dallas and remained two games back of Miami.
Meanwhile, the Heat guaranteed that for the 10th time in 12 seasons under Spoelstra, Miami will not have a losing record. That's tied for the third most .500-or-better seasons in the NBA over that span, behind Houston and San Antonio (11 each).
