WASHINGTON _ It was down to the wire again for the Miami Heat for the second time in as many nights.
This time, Kelly Olynyk came up big when needed, scoring a put-back basket with two-tenths of a second to play to lift the Heat to a 113-112 victory over the Washington Wizards at Capital One Arena.
The only NBA team to open the season with back-to-back games, the Heat needed every second to make it a 1-1 start, after falling in the closing seconds a night earlier against the Orlando Magic.
And now it gets better, with eight of the next 11 at home.
Before Olynyk's moment, the Heat's Derrick Jones Jr. and Rodney McGruder both stepped up to a level heretofore unseen, with both forwards establishing career scoring highs Thursday night, McGruder with 20 points, Jones with 17.
The ultimate takeway? Until the Heat become whole, there will be no easy button, even with Josh Richardson leading the way Thursday with 28 points, countered by 26 and 20 respectively from Wizards guards John Wall and Bradley Beal.
A Jones transition dunk tied it 100-100 midway through the fourth quarter, with a Richardson 3-pointer with 3:34 to play then putting the Heat ahead 106-104.
Later, a driving layup by Dwyane Wade put the Heat up 111-110, but Wall then drew a foul on Hassan Whiteside with 56.6 seconds to play. Those free throws put Washington up 112-111.
Off a jump ball scramble, still down one, the Heat called time with 33.4 seconds to play, a possession that resulted in a 24-second violation with 30.5 seconds to play.
Wall then was off with a jumper, with Wade securing the rebound and the Heat calling their final timeout with 6.6 seconds left.
A night after the Heat wound up with a Richardson turnover in a similar situation, Wade this time was off with as jumper ... only to see Olynyk follow with a put-back for a 113-112 lead with two-tenths of a second to play, closing out the scoring.
