LeBron James scored 23 points and chipped in 10 rebounds as Miami Heat thrashed the Washington Wizards 102-72 Saturday night.
''We were focused on the game,'' The Associated Press quoted Dwane Wade as saying. ''We had heavy hearts for the families that dealt with the tragedy. But we had to play basketball, and ... for our fans and our family we had to come out here and do our job.''
For the Heat, James shot eight out of 15 attempts from the field, while Wade and Udonis Haslem scored 13 points apiece. Chris Bosh finished with 12 points and five rebounds for Miami.
''We worked the game,'' Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. ''Regardless of who was in the game, what the score was, work our game. Let's try to get back to our identity and be consistent. ... You should have some of these games where you jump on teams and you're able to sustain it.''
The Heat outscored the Wizards 26-14 in the first quarter, while Washington could add only 22 against Miami's 24 to trail in the first half by 14 points.
With the help of James' 16 points, the Heat completely outclassed the Wizards 29-10 in the third quarter. The Wizards were trailing by 33 points when the fourth quarter started and they needed a miracle to save the game, but that did not happen and they outscored the Heat by just 3 points to lose the game by 30 points.
For the Wizards, top scorer Bradley Beal added 19 points, while Cartier Martin scored 18 points, four assists and chipped in six rebounds.
''I didn't know what we were running half the time,'' Wizards coach Randy Wittman said. ''Credit to Miami. They came out and put pressure on us and we didn't handle their pressure. I don't know what we were doing from an offensive standpoint.''
The Heat players were shocked because of the school shooting in Newtown on Friday that left 20 children and six adults dead. They held a moment of silence to honor the victims of the Connecticut school shooting before the tipoff on Saturday's game against the Wizards and many Miami' players had their children present there for that moment.
''I couldn't imagine being in the position some people are in right now,'' Bosh said. ''It wasn't like they were dropping their kids off in a dangerous situation. It was school.''
The Wizards did not shoot well on Saturday as they had only 27 of 72 from the field, while the Heat shot 40 of 79 to ensure their victory.
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