WASHINGTON -- Kwame Brown may not have needed to worry, but he played last night as if he had something to fret about.
After two standout games to start the Washington Wizards' season, Brown, the Wizards' first player straight out of high school, had been in something of a sophomore slump over his past seven games, but the presence of the Miami Heat at MCI Center gave Brown a jump-start.
Brown's 15 points and 11 rebounds powered the Wizards to a convincing 95-65 thumping of the Heat, the fewest points ever surrendered by the team in its 41-year history.
For the 6-foot-11 Brown, the key was to run and to keep running.
"Doug [Collins, Wizards coach] told us big guys to run the floor, because Miami played Friday night," Brown said. "We ran the floor, and I think they got a little tired and I kept running. Tyronn [Lue] hit me with a good dime [assist] and that just opened it up for everybody. Everybody started running because they wanted to get one. That's a nice feeling because everybody wants to get a layup like that because it could be the turning point."
Before last night's game, Collins sounded a vague warning that Brown, who has slumped badly since the season's first two games, might see his minutes reduced if his play didn't improve.
Brown, who said he has been suffering from a respiratory ailment of sorts, apparently got the message, getting two blocked shots as well.
"He did a great job subbing me in and out," Brown said. "I was under the weather the past couple of days, but getting in here early, getting treatment and getting into the steam room helped to clear out my nasal passages. He saw that I got winded in the first half and took me out. That helped me get my second wind."
It's hard to believe that Collins, before the game, thought the Wizards, who have won four of their past five games to go 6-4 for the first time since the 1975-76 season, had much to fear from the woeful and injury-depleted Heat (1-7).
The Wizards' first-half dominance began right at the top, as Washington jumped out of the chute with an 11-2 run, as the Heat missed five of its first six shots. Point guard Larry Hughes, who has begun to find his groove here, had eight of Washington's first 11 points in the run. By the end of the first quarter, the Wizards had a 28-14 lead, and the rout was on.
"I wanted to jump on them early, and I didn't want to give them any life," Collins said. "I said, 'Let's get them down early because they traveled [Friday] night. Let's not give them any hope.' Other than the three minutes at the start of the third quarter, we did that."
In the second quarter, Miami never got closer than 16, as Brown and Jared Jeffries combined for 16 points in the period. The Wizards shot a blistering 73 percent in the second quarter, missing only four of 15 shots. For the half, they shot 67 percent -- a figure that would have shot up to 76 percent, if not for Jerry Stackhouse's 2-for-7 first-half performance, to take a 59-32 lead at the half.
The Heat mustered a 7-0 run to start the third quarter, but Collins called a quick timeout, and the Wizards put the hammer down, building the lead back to 30 by the end of the third.
"Once we got them down, we learned from our mistakes from the past, and we didn't let them back in the game," said Stackhouse, who had a game-high 16 points, and also had 10 assists.