WASHINGTON (AP) LeBron James, Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh watched and didn't seem to care. The final game of the regular season was meaningless, and the Miami Heat played like it.
Without their Big Three, the Heat suffered their worst defeat of 2011-2012 with a 104-70 loss to the Washington Wizards on Thursday night.
With their first playoff game just two days away, Miami coach Erik Spoelstra rested the boldface names and started Shane Battier, Udonis Haslem, Eddy Curry, Mike Miller and Mario Chalmers. Only Chalmers usually starts, and Curry started for the first time in more than four years.
The Heat are locked into the Eastern Conference's second playoff spot and open the postseason Saturday against the New York Knicks.
Miami was blown out early. Washington led by 25 at halftime and by as many as 38, sending the Heat to their biggest loss since Jan. 20, 2010.
''If we land safely and the plane touches down in Miami, it's a victory,'' Battier said. ''That was a nasty game. Luckily no one was injured, seriously, that's what you take away from this game.''
The Heat had only two players in double figures: Norris Cole with 14 and Curry with 10.
''Obviously we're not gonna put too much weight into this game. We don't think it'll have too much bearing on the second season,'' Spoelstra said.
''This will be a great first-round matchup. The way the season's been we couldn't expect anything other than to play after a day. We don't need more than that. We're in the same place the Knicks are in,'' Spoelstra said.
''They're coming off a game as well, so everybody's on a fair fighting field right now. Let's tip it off.''
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Big 3 watches as Heat lose to Wizards 104-70
