NBA scores 2014: John Wall is amazing and 3 other things we learned on Monday

Monday's slate of games featured two matchups starting early in the night: 76ers vs. Spurs and Wizards vs. Heat. Assuming one of those was going to end in a blowout was the safe bet. That it was the Wizards delivering the beatdown instead of the Spurs was not.

The Sixers fought back hard after trailing by 21 to make things interesting late, while Miami simply could not stop John Wall from orchestrating an offensive onslaught.

Wall finished the game with 18 points and 13 assists, proving to be too much to handle for an erratic Heat defense. Wall punished Miami on the pick-and-roll with feeds to Marcin Gortat and Kris Humphries for easy buckets inside. When the Heat tried to adjust by sending a defender from the corner to cover the dive, Wall made perfect skip passes for wide open three-pointers. Even when his passes weren't resulting directly in assists, he got the defense out of position. It was a virtuoso performance, the kind that is becoming the norm for Wall as he matures as a player.

The Heat stars, to their credit, showed up to play on the second game of a back-to-back after a win over the Knicks on Sunday. Chris Bosh had 21 points and eight rebounds and Dwyane Wade scored 20 on 13 shots. The problem was that no one seemed ready to play for Miami. Defensively, the Heat just weren't sharp as a team and Washington was primed to make them pay for every mistake.

Rasual Butler went off for 23 points off the bench and helped mask quiet nights from Bradley Beal and Paul Pierce while Drew Gooden and Andre Miller were solid as well. For the Heat, no sub could provide a spark to make up for disappointing games from Luol Deng and Norris Cole. It took Mario Chalmers 11 shots to score that many points and while Josh McRoberts did pitch in four assists, Miami needed outside scoring (2-22 from outside as a team) that no one was able to deliver.

If the playoffs started today, these two teams would face each other on the first round. The difference between Miami and Washington under normal circumstances is probably not this pronounced. After all, there are no back-to-backs in the postseason and the Wizards won't go 10-19 from outside all that often. But it seems the East remains as top-heavy as ever, with three teams -- four, if the Cavaliers get it together -- that are two steps above the rest.

The Spurs have won eight straight, taking advantage of an easy schedule to recover from a slow start. The streak is short on signature wins but San Antonio is taking care of business without Tiago Splitter and are being as cautious as ever with the minutes their veterans play. A close win against the 76ers is nothing to get excited about but the Spurs prioritized health on Monday, as Tim Duncan (rest) and Tony Parker (bruised rib) didn't suit up and Manu Ginobili played just 13 minutes.

Splitter should return soon and last year's sparkplug off the bench, Patty Mills, is slated to be fully healthy and back with the team in January, after having shoulder surgery. Meanwhile, Kawhi Leonard (26 points, 10 rebounds, four assists) is using games like the one in Philadelphia to grow more comfortable in a bigger role. The defending champs are not ready to fade just yet.

The Nuggets might not be bad after all

The Nuggets started the season 1-6 and there were reports about the franchise being in disarray. The defense was terrible, the offense wasn't much better and the body language of some players was awful. Rebuilding seemed inevitable. Since then Denver has gone 8-2, with Monday's win over the Utah Jazz putting them above .500 for the first time since their opening night win over the Pistons.

The Nuggets' depth is their biggest strength and it showed on their visit to Utah. Seven players scored in double digits and the 10 guys that received minutes got on the board. The Nuggets were in control in the first half, leading by as much as 22 before the Jazz, losers of five straight coming into this game and missing Derrick Favors with flu-like symptoms, attempted the comeback. Despite Arron Afflalo getting ejected for a flagrant two foul, the Nuggets held on. Whether they can continue to soar as their schedule becomes tougher will say a lot about just how good Denver can be. But they are not the tire fire that they seemed to be early in the season.

The Timberwolves are sad to watch

Injuries to Ricky Rubio, Nikola Pekovic and Kevin Martin have forced the Wolves to give more minutes to their young guys. It might prove to be a positive step in the development of Andrew Wiggins, Zach LaVine, Gorgui Dieng, Anthony Bennett and Shabazz Muhammad in the long run, despite the lopsided losses that keep piling on. But it's painful to watch. For every flash of potential -- and there are many -- there are seemingly 10 painful moments in which half the team looks outmatched.

The Clippers got whatever they wanted inside in their demolition of the Timberwolves. Including a Blake Griffin-DeAndre Jordan pick-and-roll alley-oop reverse dunk.