<![CDATA[Coming into Game 3 down 2-0 in their series with the Heat, the Brooklyn Nets knew they needed a big performance from their big players in addition to their reserves in order to avoid a debilitating 3-0 deficit. Would you know, great performances all around are exactly what they ended up getting.
For the third straight time in this series, the first half was incredibly close, as the halftime deficits of each game has been three points or less. Tonight, the Nets were up 51-49 after a pretty good half which was punctuated by four Joe Johnson threes, 13 Andray Blatche points, and an end-of-first-quarter 40-foot buzzer-beating three from Shaun Livingston, which was just his second three of the entire season (regular season and playoffs).
The second half, meanwhile, was all Nets. Brooklyn slowly built its lead from two points to double digits. How, you might ask? Some amazing defense and timely shots, which were made relatively uncontested by the great ball movement the Nets had (26 team assists on 38 field goals, Deron Williams had 11 assists of his own). Brooklyn just kept piling on a Heat team that uncharacteristically was relying on outside shooting, so the lead was 14 for the home team heading into the fourth quarter, which saw the Nets go up by as much as 20.
Mirza Teletovic also was a huge reason for the Nets' second half surge, as he scored 12 points on 4-7 shooting (all threes) to help his team turn this game from a competitive one into a blowout. He, Joe, Paul Pierce, and Alan Anderson all contributed to Brooklyn's playoff single-game franchise record of 15 three-pointers (on just 25 attempts), a showing that made this a relatively easy win for Jason Kidd's team.
Some other observations I had from the game: The Nets shot 53% from the field and 60% from three-point range. There’s your game, as they held the Heat to just 46% and 33% shooting in those two categories respectively. Six different Nets (KG, Pierce, Livingston, Joe, Blatche) reached double figures in points while just Miami’s Big Three (Bosh, Wade, and LeBron) did that for Miami. Simply put, the Nets made a lot of their shots with a bunch of different people, while Miami did not. Balanced scoring, in this case, beat a few superstars….The Nets also won the rebounding battle 43-27 (Blatche led the game with 10, and actually put together a double-double), which was really important for them to get second-chance points and close out defensive possessions. The glass has been a big problem for Brooklyn, but tonight it worked to their advantage….Deron Williams didn’t go on a scoring rampage the game after being held scoreless, as he only scored nine. However, he played a great overall game with 11 assists and a game-high +18 rating. The shot just wasn’t there again, but at least he drove to the hoop a little and hit one three….Andrei Kirilenko didn’t play at all in Game 2, but got 19 minutes tonight, and was ridiculously helpful on defense and the boards as usual. It’s been said a lot about him, but he just makes plays….Somehow, Andray Blatche and Kevin Garnett outplayed Chris Bosh, who just scored 12 points in his 37 minutes. If that happens in Game 4, odds are this is going to be a tied series.
Looking Ahead
The Nets can tie this series up at two games apiece with a win in Game 4 on Monday night at Barclays.]]>
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