Miami casts a curse on Wizards to end NBA skid

By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña

The Miami Heat obliterated the Washington Wizards, 132-101, to finally return to the win column in the ongoing NBA regular season on Feb. 9, 2026, at Capital One Arena.

Still stinging from tough back-to-back losses against the Atlanta Hawks and the Boston Celtics, Miami came out firing on all cylinders and approached the Eastern Conference showdown with a much-needed sense of urgency.

The Heat had only a narrow four-point lead after the first 12 minutes of action, but turned on the jets in the following quarter as they stamped a masterclass with a 37-19 domination to mount a momentum-boosting 22-point lead at the half, 74-52.

Bam Adebayo and Norman Powell fueled the massive Miami rally in the second quarter, as the 1-2 punch took turns scoring, amplified by a much-improved perimeter defense anchored by Andrew Wiggins and Davion Mitchell, who directed traffic when Washington shifted into a pick-and-pop-oriented offense.

With Wiggins and Mitchell primarily involved in Washington’s pick-and-pop play run for Alex Sarr, the veteran backcourt tandem avoided most of the screens by going under, negating the chance for the French stretch center to hoist wide-open shots from the 3-point line.

Surprisingly, the Wizards made no adjustments when Miami read their plays like an open book and still forced Sarr to stay at the top of the key.

All hell broke loose in the second half when Miami’s shooters came to play, specifically Kasparas Jakucionis, who fired six 3-pointers, including back-to-back bombs to cap off the Heat’s third-quarter surge, 33-23.

The emerging Lithuanian sniper delivered when his number was called by head coach Erik Spoelstra, cashing in long heaves that ballooned the Heat’s biggest lead of the game to 32 points.

Jakucionis continued to play in the garbage minutes, helping Miami protect its huge cushion, and added one more trey with only 3:43 remaining in the game.

Leading the fiery Heat barrage were Adebayo and Jakucionis, who each dropped 22 points, while Powell added 21 markers built from an efficient 5-of-10 shooting from downtown.

Kel’el Ware was also a huge boost off the bench, as the former Heat starter recorded a double-double performance of 19 points, 14 rebounds, and a block.

The Heat will look to win two games in a row as they aim to defend their home turf in their next game against the visiting Utah Jazz, while the Wizards seek to end their losing streak on Feb. 12, 2026, against the retooled Cleveland Cavaliers.