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| Surprisingly, it was Dwyane Wade that led the scoring effort for the Heat, not LeBron |
If each half of an NBA game counted as its own game, the Nets would have gone 1-1 last night in Miami against the Heat. However, it doesn't and it's the score at the end of the entire game, both halves, that determines which team gets the tallymark in the W-column on the left and which one gets the tallymark in the L-column on the right. And last night, Miami's second half output outweighed that of the Nets' first half and they took home the win.
Reverting back to the regular game structure of the first few games of the season, the Nets started off the game really hot and faded towards the end, especially by blowing their entire nine-point halftime lead in the third quarter, which has proven to be the bellwether quarter for most Nets games. If they win that quarter, they tend to win the game and vice versa. Vice versa was the correct outcome for last night as a 59-50 Nets lead taken into halftime quickly evaporated in the third period, as Brooklyn was simply overmatched by the athleticism and swarming defense of the Heat.
The main catalyst of that Miami run in third quarter was Dwyane Wade, who had a monster 34-point performance on the evening on 14-20 shooting. LeBron chipped in with 21 points and nine rebounds in the winning effort for Miami with most of his damage being caused in the second half after an extremely quiet first half for the superstar. Looking even beyond the points they scored, Wade and LeBron played great defense for Coach Erik Spoelstra, helping to cause some of the 18 turnovers the Nets committed in the loss.
Last night wasn't a poor effort by the Nets by any means, as they played pretty well but just couldn't handle the team speed and absurd athleticism the Heat possessed in the second half of the game. Brooklyn started off the game the right way, hitting a bunch of mid-range and long distance jumpers to gain a early lead and force the Heat interior defense to thin out and help out with the shooters. This opened up the rim area for guys like Kris Humphries and Andray Blatche who were able to take advantage of the lack of defensive pressure they were facing. Coming out of the first with an eight-point lead that they would hold until halftime, the Nets weathered a 34-point Miami offensive barrage in the second quarter with their own onslaught, scoring 35 of their own points. Up nine points going in the second half, the Nets felt confident about their chances to win, a confidence that was destroyed once the third quarter got underway.
The Heat would go on to obliterate the Nets in that quarter, winning it by a score of 32-19 and taking a four-point lead into the fourth quarter that they would only build on. Obviously, a much better performance from the Nets last night than in the earlier meeting between these teams but not the full 48-minute effort needed for a win. Still some work to do.
Some other observations I had from the game: Second-straight great game from Andray Blatche starting at center for Brook Lopez. Blatche had 14 points and nine boards on Friday against the Magic and 20 points and eight boards on Saturday against the Heat. He may make me feel nervous a lot when he has the ball (and almost never passes), but I can't deny how much of a godsend he has been for the Nets bench this year after they picked him up off the amnesty wire for only the vets' minimum…..On the contrary, not a great game from Reggie Evans (just five rebounds). Oh well, guess he's human…..Three Nets (D-Will, Joe, Gerald) had four turnovers, leading to the team as a whole committing 18. That's way too much to have to expect to win a game, but it is to be expected with the swarming and athletic nature of the Miami defense….Joe Johnson and Deron Williams combined to shoot 8-25 from the field. That's 32 percent and that's awful. No excuses for that…..Also, shooting 6-28 from three-point range and 17-27 from the free throw line is terrible as well, actually downright scary. We can assume both of those aren't going to happen during the game again when these two teams play next time in Brooklyn.
Looking Ahead
The Nets have a rare two-day break in between games and head home to take on the Thunder in Brooklyn on Tuesday night. Another test against one of the NBA's best.
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