When the Miami Heat started this game off making 10 of their first 11 shots, you just knew it wasn’t going to be a good night for the reeling Nets, who didn’t provide much resistance all night. Brooklyn was down double digits early, as much as 17 in the first half, as the Nets muddled through another lackluster effort to lose to Miami and get swept in the four-game season series.
Oh what a difference just one year makes. Last season, somehow, the Nets took all four regular season meetings from Miami, which happened to have LeBron James at the time. Of course, they went on to lose to the Heat in five games in the postseason but just the regular season domination is good for something.
The only domination that occurred on Wednesday in South Beach was by the home team, though. Brooklyn’s extremely poor first half magically left the Nets down just 11 (62-51) at halftime, leaving the door open–as Ian Eagle mentioned throughout the broadcast–for a possible comeback.
Only problem is that whenever Brooklyn went to walk through that door, it slammed right back in its face. Whether it was missed free throws from Mason Plumlee and Cory Jefferson (they combined to go 2-8 from the charity stripe), turnovers (21 by the Nets, 21!!) or the occasional Miami string of offensive rebounds leading to a backbreaking bucket, the Nets were just never able to capitalize on the opportunities handed to them.
With this said, Brooklyn was down 15 heading into the fourth quarter–and thanks to surprisingly efficient offense–got within five points (101-96) on a Jarrett Jack three-pointer with 36 seconds left. Jack, who scored 18 points on the evening, scored Brooklyn’s last 13 points of the game and singlehandedly brought the team back into possible contention.
The triple came after Mario Chalmers made a wide open long ball to put the Heat up eight. After Jack’s shot, the Nets started fouling and when Dwyane Wade hit a pair from the line and Joe Johnson subsequently passed up a three to try to find Brook Lopez at the rim, instead finding Miami’s Goran Dragic, the game was–for all intents and purposes–over. Five straight losses for Lionel Hollins’ team.
Assorted thoughts: Another game, another team to simply destroy Brooklyn at the rim. Chris Andersen found himself basically uncontested at the basket for much of the night, hitting eight of his nine shots en route to a brutal 18-point, 14-rebound double-double. Brutal for the Nets in that they let a role player be Miami’s most efficient scorer. Embarrassing. It also didn’t help that, once again, Brooklyn mysteriously couldn’t hit layups in the first half. Brook Lopez missed chippies, Thaddeus Young did it as did Deron Williams, Mason Plumlee and Cory Jefferson. A full team of NBA players wasn’t able to make half of its in-the-paint field goal attempts for what probably is the third or fourth game in a row. I have no words….What else did the Nets in were turnovers, on which Miami scored 26 points to Brooklyn’s nine points off Heat turnovers. Deron (six), Joe (five) and Jack (four) were the biggest culprits, making stupid passes and dribbling mistakes that often lead to fastbreak scores for the home team. For a Nets team with such a small margin of error as it is, wasting over 20 possessions on dumb turnovers is basically a death knell….The positive on the night was probably that Deron (18 points) finally was able to hit some jumpers, especially from three. Brook and Thaddeus added 15 points apiece to help the cause but it just wasn’t enough, especially with Joe Johnson going 3-of-11 from the field. Doesn’t matter that a few players were good when the vast majority weren’t. Also doesn’t help that Cory Jefferson played about half of the fourth quarter while Lopez sat on the bench. Neither does the fact that Brooklyn was without Alan Anderson, who hurt himself in the New Orleans loss last night. He could have been the difference–with a three here and there or solid defense–in this one. Shoulda, coulda, woulda.
Onto the next one: The road trip continues Saturday in Philadelphia and, hopefully, the losing streak ends there
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