MIAMI (AP) — Tristan Vukcevic had 28 points and 11 rebounds, Justin Champagnie added 27 points and Bub Carrington banked in a game-winner as time expired to put the Washington Wizards over the Miami Heat 119-118 on Sunday in both teams' regular-season finale.
Carrington had 15 points, nine assists and seven rebounds.
Click to Gallery
Washington Wizards guard AJ Johnson (5) drives on Miami Heat forward Haywood Highsmith during the first half of a basketball game, Sunday, April 13, 2025, in Miami. (AP Photo/Michael Laughlin)
Washington Wizards guard AJ Johnson (5) drives on Miami Heat forward Haywood Highsmith (24) and forward Duncan Robinson during the first half of a basketball game, Sunday, April 13, 2025, in Miami. (AP Photo/Michael Laughlin)
Washington Wizards forward Kyshawn George (18) shoots over Miami Heat forward Duncan Robinson (55) during the first half of a basketball game, Sunday, April 13, 2025, in Miami. (AP Photo/Michael Laughlin)
Washington Wizards forward Alex Sarr (20) shoots over Miami Heat forward Haywood Highsmith (24) during the first half of a basketball game, Sunday, April 13, 2025, in Miami. (AP Photo/Michael Laughlin)
Miami Heat forward Keshad Johnson reaches for the ball in front of teammate Terry Rozier during the first half of a basketball game, Sunday, April 13, 2025, in Miami. (AP Photo/Michael Laughlin)
Miami Heat forward Keshad Johnson fouls Washington Wizards forward Justin Champagnie (9) during the first half of a NBA basketball game, Sunday, April 13, 2025, in Miami. (AP Photo/Michael Laughlin)
Washington Wizards guard Colby Jones (1) scores on Miami Heat forward Kyle Anderson and guard Jaime Jaquez Jr. (11) during the first half of a NBA basketball game, Sunday, April 13, 2025, in Miami. (AP Photo/Michael Laughlin)
Washington Wizards forward Justin Champagnie (9) drives on Miami Heat forward Keshad Johnson (16) during the first half of a NBA basketball game, Sunday, April 13, 2025, in Miami. (AP Photo/Michael Laughlin)
Washington Wizards forward Tristan Vukcevic (00) scores over Miami Heat forward Kyle Anderson during the first half of a NBA basketball game, Sunday, April 13, 2025, in Miami. (AP Photo/Michael Laughlin)
Washington Wizards guard Bub Carrington (8) battles against Miami Heat guard Jaime Jaquez Jr. (11) during the first half of a basketball game, Sunday, April 13, 2025, in Miami. (AP Photo/Michael Laughlin)
Jaime Jaquez Jr. scored a career high 41 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists for Miami, and Keshad Johnson and Josh Christopher each had 17 points.
Miami is already locked into 10th place in the Eastern Conference and will play an elimination game against Chicago, the No. 9 seed, on Wednesday.
Colby Jones also had 20 for the Wizards, who won just two of their final 10 games of the season.
Wizards: With a dismal season coming to an end, coach Brian Keefe was proud of the work that his young roster put in during its 18-64 campaign, noting that “We’ve had a lot of guys, not just our younger guys, grow tremendously this year.”
Heat: Some reserves got extended minutes with Miami resting Bam Adebayo and Tyler Herro, and several other regulars out with lingering injuries.
The Heat led by one with five seconds left when Christopher received an inbounds pass and went into the backcourt, giving the ball to Washington. Carrington made the game-winner on the next play.
With his start on Sunday, Carrington became the first Wizards rookie to appear in all 82 games in a season since Jeff Ruland (1981-82). Carrington, 19, also joined Luka Doncic as the only players in NBA history to record at least 300 assists and 100 3-pointers before turning 20 years old.
The Miami-Chicago winner travels to face either No. 8 Atlanta or No. 7 Orlando for the seventh seed in the playoffs. The Wizards will prepare for this summer's NBA draft, where they have a good chance of selecting No. 1 overall.
AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba
Washington Wizards guard AJ Johnson (5) drives on Miami Heat forward Haywood Highsmith during the first half of a basketball game, Sunday, April 13, 2025, in Miami. (AP Photo/Michael Laughlin)
Washington Wizards guard AJ Johnson (5) drives on Miami Heat forward Haywood Highsmith (24) and forward Duncan Robinson during the first half of a basketball game, Sunday, April 13, 2025, in Miami. (AP Photo/Michael Laughlin)
Washington Wizards forward Kyshawn George (18) shoots over Miami Heat forward Duncan Robinson (55) during the first half of a basketball game, Sunday, April 13, 2025, in Miami. (AP Photo/Michael Laughlin)
Washington Wizards forward Alex Sarr (20) shoots over Miami Heat forward Haywood Highsmith (24) during the first half of a basketball game, Sunday, April 13, 2025, in Miami. (AP Photo/Michael Laughlin)
Miami Heat forward Keshad Johnson reaches for the ball in front of teammate Terry Rozier during the first half of a basketball game, Sunday, April 13, 2025, in Miami. (AP Photo/Michael Laughlin)
Miami Heat forward Keshad Johnson fouls Washington Wizards forward Justin Champagnie (9) during the first half of a NBA basketball game, Sunday, April 13, 2025, in Miami. (AP Photo/Michael Laughlin)
Washington Wizards guard Colby Jones (1) scores on Miami Heat forward Kyle Anderson and guard Jaime Jaquez Jr. (11) during the first half of a NBA basketball game, Sunday, April 13, 2025, in Miami. (AP Photo/Michael Laughlin)
Washington Wizards forward Justin Champagnie (9) drives on Miami Heat forward Keshad Johnson (16) during the first half of a NBA basketball game, Sunday, April 13, 2025, in Miami. (AP Photo/Michael Laughlin)
Washington Wizards forward Tristan Vukcevic (00) scores over Miami Heat forward Kyle Anderson during the first half of a NBA basketball game, Sunday, April 13, 2025, in Miami. (AP Photo/Michael Laughlin)
Washington Wizards guard Bub Carrington (8) battles against Miami Heat guard Jaime Jaquez Jr. (11) during the first half of a basketball game, Sunday, April 13, 2025, in Miami. (AP Photo/Michael Laughlin)
The second murder trial began Tuesday for Karen Read, who is accused of causing the death of her Boston police officer boyfriend but whose supporters contend is being framed for a murder she didn’t commit.
Prosecutors say Read backed her SUV into John O’Keefe after dropping him off at a party and returned hours later to find him dead. Defense attorneys say she was a victim of a conspiracy involving the police and they plan, as they did in the first trial, to offer evidence pointing to the real killer.
Nine men and nine women were chosen to serve as the 12 jurors and six alternates.
Read has been charged with second-degree murder, manslaughter and leaving the scene. A mistrial was declared last year after jurors said they were at an impasse. The second trial will look much like the first, with the same judge, many of the same witnesses and several of the prominent defense attorneys.
Read had worked as a financial analyst and a Bentley College adjunct professor before being charged in the death of O’Keefe, who was 46 when he died. The 16-year police veteran was found unresponsive outside the home of a fellow Boston police officer.
After a night out drinking, prosecutors say Read, who is 45, dropped O’Keefe at the house party just after midnight. As she made a three-point turn, prosecutors say, she struck O’Keefe before driving away. She returned hours later to find him in a snowbank.
As at the first trial, prosecutors will try to convince jurors that Read’s actions were intentional. They are expected to call witnesses who will describe how the couple's relationship had begun to sour before O'Keefe's death, including his brother and sister-in-law, who testified that Read told her the couple had argued in Aruba after she caught O’Keefe kissing another woman.
The defense is expected to portray the investigation into O’Keefe’s death as shoddy and undermined by the close relationship investigators had with the police officers and other law enforcement agents who were at the house party.
Among the key witnesses they will call is former State Trooper Michael Proctor, who led the investigation but has since been fired after a disciplinary board found he sent sexist and crude texts about Read to his family and colleagues. He is also on the prosecution's witness list.
Proctor’s testimony was a key moment during the first trial, when the defense suggested his texts about Read and the case showed he was biased and had singled her out early in the investigation, ignoring other potential suspects.
They also are expected to suggest Read was framed, saying O’Keefe was actually killed inside the home during a fight with another partygoer and then dragged outside. In the first trial, defense attorneys suggested investigators focused on Read because she was a “convenient outsider” who saved them from having to consider law enforcement officers as suspects.
Ahead of the second trial, the two sides sparred over whether Read's lawyers will be allowed to argue that someone else killed O'Keefe. Judge Beverly Cannone ruled Monday that attorneys can't mention potential third-party culprits in their opening statements but will be allowed to develop evidence against Brian Albert, a retired police officer who owned the Canton home, and his friend Brian Higgins. Lawyers cannot implicate Albert's nephew, Colin Albert, the judge said.
A town-commissioned audit of the Canton Police Department released March 30 found several mistakes with the investigation but no evidence of a cover-up. It suggested that first responders should have photographed O'Keefe where he was found before he was moved and that all interviews of “critical witnesses” should have been done at the department after O'Keefe was taken to a hospital.
Soon after the mistrial, Read's lawyers set out to get the main charges dropped.
They argued Judge Cannone declared a mistrial without polling the jurors to confirm their conclusions. Defense attorney Martin Weinberg said five jurors indicated after the trial that they were only deadlocked on the manslaughter count and had unanimously agreed that she wasn’t guilty of second-degree murder and leaving the scene, but that they hadn’t told the judge.
The defense said that because jurors had agreed Read wasn't guilty of murder and leaving the scene, retrying her on those counts would amount to double jeopardy. But Cannone rejected that argument, as did the state's highest court, a federal court judge, and an appeals court.
Prosecutors had urged Cannone to dismiss the double jeopardy claim, saying it amounted to "hearsay, conjecture and legally inappropriate reliance as to the substance of jury deliberations.” Assistant District Attorney Adam Lally argued that the jurors never indicated they had reached a verdict on any of the charges and that the defense had ample opportunity to object to the mistrial declaration.
The second trial will likely look similar to the first. It will be held in the same courthouse before the same judge, and dozens of Read's passionate supporters are again expected to rally outside. The charges, primary defense lawyers and many of the nearly 200 witnesses will also be the same.
The biggest difference will be the lead prosecutor, Hank Brennan. A former prosecutor and defense attorney who was brought in as a special prosecutor after the mistrial, Brennan has represented several prominent clients, including notorious Boston gangster James “Whitey” Bulger, and experts think he might be more forceful than Lally was in arguing the case.
Prosecutors are likely to rely on eyewitnesses from the scene in the early days of the trial, counting on testimony from police officers and firefighters who recalled Read making comments that implicated her in the killing.
They also are likely to introduce evidence of a broken taillight on Read’s SUV that prosecutors argue was damaged when she hit O’Keefe and possible DNA from O’Keefe found on her vehicle.
The defense’s goal is to raise doubts about the prosecution case and plant the seed that she was framed. They are expected to introduce evidence of a sloppy police investigation, including the failure to search the house and mistakes in the police log.
They also are expected to suggest that a hair found on the taillight was planted and the police investigation was marred by a conflict of interest.
Karen Read, third left, and her defense team, Victoria George, from left, David Yannetti, Read, Alan Jackson, Elizabeth Little, and Robert Alessi introduce themselves to potential jurors as jury selection continues for the murder retrial of Read, in front of Judge Beverly J. Cannone in Norfolk Superior Court, Monday, April 14, 2025, in Dedham, Mass. (Pat Greenhouse/The Boston Globe via AP, Pool)
Karen Read with her attorney Alan Jackson during jury selection in the murder trial of Read at Norfolk Superior Court Tuesday, April 15, 2025, in Dedham, Mass. (Nancy Lane/The Boston Herald via AP, Pool)
Special Assistant District Attorney Hank Brennan introduces himself during jury selection in the murder trial of Karen Read at Norfolk Superior Court Tuesday, April 15, 2025, in Dedham, Mass. (Nancy Lane/The Boston Herald via AP, Pool)
Karen Read's attorneys Elizabeth Little, left, and Robert Alessi introduce themselves during jury selection in the murder trial of Read at Norfolk Superior Court Tuesday, April 15, 2025, in Dedham, Mass. (Nancy Lane/The Boston Herald via AP, Pool)
Attorney David Yannetti whispers into the ear of Karen Read during jury selection in the murder trial of Read at Norfolk Superior Court Tuesday, April 15, 2025, in Dedham, Mass. (Nancy Lane/The Boston Herald via AP, Pool)
Karen Read with her attorneys David Yannetti, left, and Alan Jackson during jury selection in the murder trial of Read at Norfolk Superior Court, Tuesday, April 15, 2025, in Dedham, Mass. Read is accused of striking her boyfriend, Boston police officer John O’Keefe, with her SUV and leaving him to die in a snowstorm in 2022. (Nancy Lane/The Boston Herald via AP, Pool)
Defense attorney Robert Alessi introduces himself to prospective jurors during jury selection for the trial of Karen Read at Norfolk Superior Court, Thursday, April 10, 2025, in Dedham, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa, Pool)
Karen Read, left, speaks with her defense attorney Alan Jackson during jury selection for Read's trial at Norfolk Superior Court, Thursday, April 10, 2025, in Dedham, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa, Pool)
Defense attorney Alan Jackson introduces himself to prospective jurors during jury selection for the trial of Karen Read at Norfolk Superior Court, Thursday, April 10, 2025, in Dedham, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa, Pool)
Karen Read, center, sits with her defense team during jury selection for Read's trial at Norfolk Superior Court, Thursday, April 10, 2025, in Dedham, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa, Pool)
Karen Read, left, and her defense team introduce themselves to prospective jurors during jury selection for Read's trial at Norfolk Superior Court, Thursday, April 10, 2025, in Dedham, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa, Pool)
Prosecution attorney Hank Brennan introduces himself to prospective jurors during jury selection for the trial of Karen Read at Norfolk Superior Court, Thursday, April 10, 2025, in Dedham, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa, Pool)
Judge Beverly Cannone addresses prospective jurors during jury selection for the trial of Karen Read at Norfolk Superior Court, Thursday, April 10, 2025, in Dedham, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa, Pool)
Supporters of Karen Read gather prior to jury selection for the trial of Karen Read outside Norfolk County Superior Court, Tuesday, April 1, 2025, in Dedham, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Supporters of Karen Read gather prior to jury selection for the trial of Karen Read outside Norfolk County Superior Court, Tuesday, April 1, 2025, in Dedham, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
A Massachusetts State Police officer talks with supporters of Karen Read, who gathered prior to jury selection for the trial of Karen Read, outside Norfolk County Superior Court, Tuesday, April 1, 2025, in Dedham, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Supporters of Karen Read gather prior to jury selection for the trial of Karen Read outside Norfolk County Superior Court, Tuesday, April 1, 2025, in Dedham, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Aidan Kearney, the blogger known as Turtleboy, walks towards court prior to jury selection for the trial of Karen Read outside Norfolk County Superior Court, Tuesday, April 1, 2025, in Dedham, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Supporters of Karen Read gather prior to jury selection for the trial of Karen Read outside Norfolk County Superior Court, Tuesday, April 1, 2025, in Dedham, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Prosecution attorney Adam Lally, right, arrives for jury selection for the trial of Karen Read at Norfolk County Superior Court, Tuesday, April 1, 2025, in Dedham, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Prosecution attorney Hank Brennan arrives for jury selection for the trial of Karen Read at Norfolk County Superior Court, Tuesday, April 1, 2025, in Dedham, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Karen Read arrives for jury selection for her trial at Norfolk County Superior Court, Tuesday, April 1, 2025, in Dedham, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Karen Read arrives for jury selection for her trial at Norfolk County Superior Court, Tuesday, April 1, 2025, in Dedham, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Karen Read arrives for jury selection for her trial at Norfolk County Superior Court, Tuesday, April 1, 2025, in Dedham, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Karen Read arrives for jury selection for her trial at Norfolk County Superior Court, Tuesday, April 1, 2025, in Dedham, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Supporters of Karen Read gather during jury selection for the trial of Read outside Norfolk County Superior Court, Tuesday, April 1, 2025, in Dedham, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Karen Read arrives for jury selection for her trial at Norfolk County Superior Court, Tuesday, April 1, 2025, in Dedham, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
