Here are five observations from the Wizards’ first preseason game:

1. The Wizards played meekly in allowing Miami to score 35 points in the first quarter and shoot 57.1 percent through the first half. Time and again Washington did not contain ball handlers at the point of attack. It started early: Near the 10-minute mark, Heat forward Justise Winslow made an aggressive move down the lane and Otto Porter Jr., the last line of defense, stepped out of the way. Then, as Washington’s rim protectors tried to block the shot, they picked up fouls. James Johnson went at backup center Jason Smith, who drew his third foul near the midway point of the second quarter. In the first half, Miami got to the line 13 times and scored 34 points in the paint.

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“We definitely need to do a better job of stopping [and] containing,” Brooks said. “Tonight we were very average to start the game but much better in the second half.”

2. Rookies Sheldon McClellan and Tomas Satoransky entered the game in the first quarter. Brooks said there wasn’t much to read into McClellan playing ahead of Kelly Oubre Jr. In Philadelphia on Thursday, Oubre may get the nod as the first wing off the bench against the Heat, McClellan formed an interesting lineup of length with a back court of Bradley Beal and Satoransky.

“I wouldn’t say I was surprised, honestly. I was ready. I had a good couple of practices so I gained confidence from just being around the team,” said McClellan, who finished with three points in 15 minutes. “Being a rookie, when he called my name, I think I did a good job.”

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Satoransky can claim similar success. In 31 minutes, Satoransky did not look jumpy or nervous. He never tried to make a highlight play, though once he could not connect with Trey Burke for an alley-oop finish which would have awakened the Verizon Center crowd. Satoransky moved well without the ball. He played the pick-and-roll game with center Marcin Gortat that resulted in the big man’s easiest bucket of the night, a dunk. He didn’t embarrass himself on the defensive end, even fighting past screens. And when he and Burke played together, they took turns handling the ball. The best way to describe Satoransky’s preseason debut: solid.

3. Beal played 16 minutes, as designed by Brooks, and finished with 12 points. While Beal’s offense mostly came from the perimeter, after the first quarter when the Wizards had only one free throw attempt compared to Miami’s six, he showed nice recognition to get inside the lane. In the first play of the second quarter, Beal caught the ball near the top of the key. When Dion Waiters overran him, Beal dribbled into the paint and drew a foul.

4. Markieff Morris should do damage against stretch-fours this year — especially if those stretch-fours are Luke Babbitt. In the first play of the game, Morris set a screen for Burke then stepped beyond the arc. When Burke sent the pass his way, Morris never hesitated and drained the three-pointer. The next trip down, Morris backed down Babbitt from the right baseline. Though Morris missed the shot, and clobbered Babbitt for a foul while trying to box out for a rebound, he proved to be the stronger one in the matchup. Morris made 2 of his 3 attempts from beyond the arc and finished with 11 points but only four rebounds. Gortat also finished with a low rebounding total (six). At one point, wing player McClellan, who had clocked nearly three fewer minutes, had as many rebounds as Gortat.

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5. Before the game, the Wizards followed the lead of other NBA teams in locking arms during the playing of the national anthem. McClellan said the idea was hatched earlier in the day when Brooks addressed the team, and the leaders took it from there.

Brooks “told us he’s not going to tell us what to do but he wanted us to get together as a team and whatever we wanted to do before the game we needed to come together and do it together,” McClellan explained. “Brad and John [Wall] said we’re all going to lock arms, so that’s what we decided to do.”

Rookie Danuel House echoed this explanation, and it appeared that the show of unity was not a democratic process.