Nick Young wasn't even getting off the bench earlier this month. On Friday night, he keyed a strong defensive effort against one of the best players in the NBA.

Antawn Jamison scored 24 points, Young added 22 and the Washington Wizards beat the Miami Heat for the first time in seven tries, 94-84.

Young's offense boosted Washington, but his defense against Dwyane Wade was just as important.

"I knew I had a big, big assignment tonight and I knew it was going to be a challenge for me but I've got to be prepared for everything," Young said after the Wizards limited Wade to 18 points.

"I've been watching Wade, studying some of his moves. I was just going out there playing hard and doing the best I can."

Young played a total of 3½ minutes from Nov. 8-21, even making an appearance on the inactive list.

"Those days without playing kind of hurt me, so I kind of came out with a chip on my shoulder," Young said.

Wade, who had 40-plus points against the Wizards in both outings this season, finished 6 of 19 from the field.

"I just have to concentrate on hitting more shots," Wade said. "They threw a lot of double teams at me but I have to find a way to work around it and get more open shots."

Jamison, playing for the first time this season against the Heat after missing the first two meetings because of a shoulder injury, scored his 16,000th career point.

That put him on the list with Shaquille O'Neal, Tim Duncan, Dirk Nowitzki, and Kevin Garnett as the only active players with at least 16,000 points and 6,000 rebounds.

Jermaine O'Neal had 19 points and 13 rebounds, his fifth double-double of the season, with Michael Beasley adding 14 points for Miami, which was without small forward Quentin Richardson for a fourth straight game.

Gilbert Arenas and Caron Butler scored nine apiece for the Wizards, who have won two straight since owner Abe Pollin died.

"We had very good defensive concentration," Wizards coach Flip Saunders said.

"Our guys came back, we didn't try to force things offensively. We went to the guys who were hot."

Miami got a boost from Mario Chalmers in the second half. He had 18 of his 20 points after halftime, and his 3-pointer with 4:48 left in the third cut the deficit to 63-60. Washington kept its lead, though.

Wade missed two free throws with 2:03 left with the Wizards ahead 90-81, and Miami only had six baskets in the fourth — one on a Washington goaltending call.

"We just came out like we didn't want to play. It was like it was Thanksgiving and we stayed home," Beasley said. "They brought every weapon they had at us tonight. They just wanted it more than we did."

Wade couldn't get much going in the first half, missing his first three shots and turning the ball over three times. He went 3 for 9 and picked up three fouls in the final 3:25 of the second quarter.

Beasley and O'Neal combined for the Heat's first 18 points, mostly on tip-ins and jumpers, but Miami went cold to start the second quarter. The Heat missed eight of their first nine shots, shooting 33 percent from the floor in the period, as the Wizards put together an 11-2 run to go ahead, 37-26.

Jamison, who finished with 13 points on 60 percent shooting in the first half, also had 13 rebounds.

NOTES: O'Neal flew back just before the game because he was with an ill relative. The Heat held a moment of silence for Pollin. The Wizards honored him by wearing a black stripe on their jerseys. Miami's last three wins have each been settled by one point. The Heat defeated the Magic, 99-98, with Beasley's dunk, beat the Hornets 102-101 three nights before on Haslem's tip-in, and won 81-80 on Nov. 14 against New Jersey after Wade sank a 3-pointer with less than a second left.