Among the last things anybody would expect: Wizards shooting guard Nick Young outscoring Dwyane Wade.

That happened Friday, remarkably, and the Heat couldn't overcome a substandard night from its superstar or a season-worst effort from its bench in a deflating 94-84 loss to Washington at AmericanAirlines Arena.

Wade, continuing a recent stretch of erratic shooting, finished with 18 points on 6-for-19 accuracy. Young, starting in injured Mike Miller's absence, scored 22.

``I wasn't getting calls I thought I should get,'' Wade said. ``It's schemes -- lot of double teams, lot of picks and rolls. We've got to find a better way to get me the ball in different positions.''

Wade, who so often does his best work late, shot 1 of 6 in the fourth quarter, which began with the Wizards ahead by three. Wade generally torches the Wizards, including 40- and 41-point games in two wins earlier this month.

What's more, the Heat's bench mustered a season-low seven points -- on three Daequan Cook baskets -- and Udonis Haslem was uncharacteristically quiet (0-for-4 shooting, five rebounds). Wizards 5-5 sparkplug Earl Boykins not only pestered the Heat, but he single-handedly outscored the Heat's bench 10-7.

Young, 6-6, provided active defense on Wade, and Randy Foye, 6-4, also did credible work against him when Young was on the bench. At times, Antawn Jamison (or another Wizards player) provided help as a second defender.

``Teams are very committed to running two or three defenders at him,'' Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said.

But this was also a case of Wade taking a lot of jump shots and simply missing them, including 1-of-6 shooting on three-point attempts. He shot two air balls, including a desperation heave with the shot clock expiring.

``I've got to concentrate on hitting more shots,'' Wade said. ``I'm making passes to teammates I'm supposed to make.''

Among the league leaders in free-throw attempts, Wade didn't go to the line until 3:25 remained in the third quarter, and finished 5 for 7 on free throws.

``That's my job. . . . We have to break him free and get him some better opportunities where he can get to the rim, get to the free throw line and get a little more space,'' Spoelstra said.

Wade opened 0 for 3 and didn't score his first points until a three-pointer with 39 seconds left in the first quarter. Typical of the night, Wade missed two free throws with 2:06 left in the game and the Heat down 11.

Mario Chalmers, who shot 0 for 3 Wednesday in Orlando, scored 10 of his team-high 20 points in the third quarter, helping cut a nine-point halftime deficit to one.

But the Wizards stormed ahead 82-70 midway through the fourth quarter. Miami shot 41.5 percent for the game and 35 percent in the fourth quarter, and was outrebounded 48-36.

``We came out like we didn't want to play,'' said Michael Beasley, who scored just two of his 14 points after halftime.

Heat center Jermaine O'Neal had 19 points and 13 rebounds. Jamison led the Wizards with 24.

Wade, meanwhile, has made less than 42 percent of his shots in five of his past six games, a stretch featuring games of 6 of 22 (Orlando), 6 of 18 (Atlanta) and 6 of 19 (Oklahoma City). His shooting percentage for the season has dipped to 42.1, well below last season's 49.1.

After a 7-2 start, the Heat (9-6) has lost four of its past six. ``More disappointing is just this never ending search to find consistency,'' Spoelstra said.