MIAMI -- The Washington Wizards went small on Monday night - mostly out of necessity -- and it worked.

Despite missing three frontcourt players, the Wizards defeated the Miami Heat 114-103 on Monday night at AmericanAirlines Arena.

"Speed, speed, smaller lineup, smaller lineup, more speed," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said, describing how the Wizards dismantled what had been the NBA's No. 1 defense in terms of lowest shooting percentage allowed.

"It felt like they were going downhill most of the game, and we couldn't get them to flatten out," Spoelstra added.

The Wizards were without center Marcin Gortat, who was back in Poland with his sick mother, and forwards Nene and Drew Gooden, who both have calf injuries.

In addition, three Wizards played hurt -- point guard John Wall, who banged his left knee on Sunday; guard Gary Neal (groin) and forward Kris Humphries (ankle).

Wall and Neal, though, didn't look hurt. Wall had 26 points and seven assists, and Neal contributed 21 points off the bench.

"John is one of the toughest players I've ever seen," Wizards coach Randy Wittman said of Wall. "It takes a lot for him to miss a game. If you remember last year in the playoffs, it took five broken bones in his hand before he was going to sit out a game."

Wall credited the Wizards training staff for getting him ready.

"Treatment, treatment, treatment," he said. "That's what I was on all day."

Neal, who signed with the Wizards in July, fell just two points off his season high.

"Gary was big off the bench," Wittman said. "He was probably the most consistent guy we had throughout the game."

Meanwhile, shooting guard Bradley Beal, who scored 21 points, had perhaps the game's biggest play. With 1:59 left in the game and the score tied 103-103, Beal stole the ball at midcourt from Heat guard Dwyane Wade and drove in for a dunk.

Neal then added a 3-pointer and a layup to put Washington up 110-103 with 34.9 seconds left.

Washington overcame productive games by the Heat's backcourt -- Wade had 26 points and nine assists, and Goran Dragic had a season-high 20 points and nine assists.

But that was of no comfort to Wade.

"We played a bad game," Wade said. "It wasn't about the offensive end. We gave up 114 points. It was all about the defensive end of the floor."

True to Wade's point, Miami lost despite shooting 59.4 percent from the floor. But the Heat allowed Washington to shoot 50 percent overall and 50 percent (nine of 18) on 3-pointers.

Miami received 18 points, nine rebounds and four assists from forward Chris Bosh. However, Bosh -- upset with the officiating -- was ejected in the final minute.

The undersized Wizards (9-10) also got 13 points and a career-high 14 rebounds from forward Otto Porter. Eight of Porter's rebounds came in the first quarter.

Miami (12-7), which had its modest two-game win streak snapped, concluded a disappointing 2-2 homestand. Miami hasn't managed a three-game win streak since March of 2014.

The Wizards, who led by as many as 14 points in the first half, took a 29-19 lead after the opening quarter.

"Right from the start," Spoelstra said, "they had us on our heels, driving and kicking. We couldn't get them to play uphill. They really attacked the paint like we haven't been attacked all year."

Miami cut its deficit to 60-55 at halftime. The Heat's 36 points in the second quarter was Miami's best offensive period of the season.

Miami led by as many as seven points in the third quarter before the Wizards rallied to take an 87-84 advantage into the fourth.

"We knew they were going to try to run on us," Dragic said. "We need to get back (in transition)."

The two "bigs" the Wizards used the most on Monday were the 6-foot-9, 198-pound Porter and Jared Dudley, who is 6-7 and 225 pounds.

"This is the NBA right now," Spoelstra said. "Welcome to this league."

NOTES: Washington has won four straight games in its series against Miami. ... Even with the win, the Wizards are just 3-6 in their past nine games overall. ... The Heat and the Los Angeles Clippers have each played 14 home games, the most in the NBA. ... For the sixth straight game, Heat SF Gerald Green replaced SF Luol Deng (hamstring) in the starting lineup. ... Heat center Hassan Whiteside had a game-high three blocks and scored 14 points on seven-for-seven shooting. It was the most field goals without a miss in Whiteside's career.