MIAMI (AP) — Tristan Vukcevic had 28 points and 11 rebounds, Justin Champagnie added 27 points and Bub Carrington banked in a game-winner as time expired to put the Washington Wizards over the Miami Heat 119-118 on Sunday in both teams’ regular-season finale.
Carrington had 15 points, nine assists and seven rebounds.
Jaime Jaquez Jr. scored a career high 41 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists for Miami, and Keshad Johnson and Josh Christopher each had 17 points.
Miami is already locked into 10th place in the Eastern Conference and will play an elimination game against Chicago, the No. 9 seed, on Wednesday.
Colby Jones also had 20 for the Wizards, who won just two of their final 10 games of the season.
Takeaways
Wizards: With a dismal season coming to an end, coach Brian Keefe was proud of the work that his young roster put in during its 18-64 campaign, noting that “We’ve had a lot of guys, not just our younger guys, grow tremendously this year.”
Heat: Some reserves got extended minutes with Miami resting Bam Adebayo and Tyler Herro, and several other regulars out with lingering injuries.
Key moment
The Heat led by one with five seconds left when Christopher received an inbounds pass and went into the backcourt, giving the ball to Washington. Carrington made the game-winner on the next play.
Key stat
With his start on Sunday, Carrington became the first Wizards rookie to appear in all 82 games in a season since Jeff Ruland (1981-82). Carrington, 19, also joined Luka Doncic as the only players in NBA history to record at least 300 assists and 100 3-pointers before turning 20 years old.
Up next
The Miami-Chicago winner travels to face either No. 8 Atlanta or No. 7 Orlando for the seventh seed in the playoffs. The Wizards will prepare for this summer’s NBA draft, where they have a good chance of selecting No. 1 overall.
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AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba
Alanis Thames, The Associated Press
