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Bosh, Heat top Wizards in 1st game of post-LeBron era

Oct 30, 2014 - 5:31 AM Miami, FL (SportsNetwork.com) - Chris Bosh is back in the spotlight after taking a back seat to LeBron James the last four years in South Beach.

He got off to a great start in the post-LeBron era Wednesday.

Bosh had 26 points and 15 rebounds as the Miami Heat defeated the Washington Wizards 107-95 in the season opener for both teams.

Bosh, who saw his numbers decline each year with James in town, signed a five- year $118 million deal in the offseason to remain in Miami. He hopes to return to the 24 points and 10.8 rebounds per game averages during his final season with Toronto in 2009-10.

The 29-year-old lefty had averaged 17.3 points and 7.4 rebounds per game with Miami coming into this season.

"It's one game. We need to stay focused on what we need to do as a team and individually," Bosh said.

Dwyane Wade netted 12 of his 21 points in the fourth quarter, while Norris Cole added 23 for the Heat, who made it to the NBA Finals in each of James' four years and won back-to-back titles in 2012 and 2013.

Luol Deng posted 12 points in his Miami debut.

John Wall tallied 16 points and 11 assists, Marcin Gortat supplied 18 points and seven rebounds and Drew Gooden provided 18 points for Washington, which will be without blossoming third-year guard Bradley Beal for the first month due to a wrist injury.

"Throughout the whole game they got to every loose ball," Wall said.

The Wizards, who went 44-38 last season, made it to the Eastern Conference semifinals before falling to the Indiana Pacers.

Ten-time All-Star Paul Pierce had 17 points, six boards and five assists in his Wizards debut, taking over for Trevor Ariza, who signed with Houston.

Otto Porter scored the first four points during an 8-0 Wizards run to pull them within 84-83 with 5:22 left in the fourth, but Miami responded with the next six to push the margin back to seven.

Mario Chalmers nailed a 3-pointer and Wade sunk two free throws for a 90-83 Heat advantage with 4:14 to play.

Gortat split a pair of free throws to claw Washington within 99-93 a few minutes later, but Wade found Deng underneath for a layup and then hit a triple to seal it with 1:01 remaining.

Earlier, Washington led 28-22 after a quarter of play before the Heat put in the first six points of the second to tie it, with Bosh netting the final four points of the spurt.

The Heat held a 53-52 edge at the break.

Miami took a 72-70 margin into the fourth, where the Heat used an 8-0 surge to build a nine-point cushion.

Chalmers hit James Ennis in stride with a cross-court pass and he leapt over the top of Rasual Butler for an emphatic dunk. Ennis then knocked down the subsequent free throw for a three-point play. Shabazz Napier's steal of Wall and layup provided Miami an 84-75 lead with 8:35 to go.

Game Notes

The Heat went 224-88 and won 59 postseason games during the James' era ... Napier's layup was his lone two points in his NBA debut ... Miami shot 48.1 percent (39-of-81) from the floor and was 87 percent (20-of-23) from the foul line ... Miami outrebounded Washington 44-36.