Wizards 114, Heat 93: Trevor Ariza poured in 25 points as host Washington used a big first half to defeat shorthanded Miami and remain in the hunt for the fifth seed in the Eastern Conference.

Nene added 18 points and Al Harrington had 16 for Washington, which racked up 70 first-half points on 70.3 percent from the field. The win not only kept the Wizards alive for the No. 5 slot - they need a win Wednesday and a pair of Brooklyn losses over the final two days of the season - it kept them one game ahead of seventh-place Charlotte, which owns the tiebreaker.

Michael Beasley led the way with 18 points for the Heat, who will be the No. 2 seed in the East while handing the Indiana Pacers homecourt advantage throughout the conference playoffs. Needing two victories and an Indiana loss to finish the season, Miami instead opted to rest star forwards LeBron James and Chris Bosh against the Wizards.

Washington blew open a close game with a dominant second quarter, getting a pair of three-point plays from Nene to go up by double digits with 8:18 remaining. Harrington extended the lead to 15 with two 3-pointers 32 seconds apart, and Bradley Beal added a long-range shot in the final minute to help the Wizards go into the break with a 70-48 advantage.

Washington kept the pressure on in the third, opening with a 14-4 run highlighted by a pair of Ariza 3-pointers to make it an 86-52 game. Ariza and Nene added dunks in the final 2 1/2 minutes of the quarter as Washington led 98-65 entering the fourth, and Miami didn't get closer than 21 points the rest of the way.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Washington shot 10-of-16 from 3-point range in the opening half while racking up 22 assists on 26 made field goals. ... In addition to giving James and Bosh the night off, Miami head coach Erik Spoelstra limited SG Dwyane Wade to 18 minutes with the game out of hand early. ... Wizards C Marcin Gortat added 10 points and 13 rebounds for his 36th double-double of the season.