The Nets finally snapped their slumps.
Their come-from-behind, 117-113 win Friday night over the Heat broke a seven-game losing skid and their maddening fourth-quarter woes.
“It’s a big win, for sure. But in terms of getting the monkey off our backs, it felt really, really, really good, for sure,” said Spencer Dinwiddie, who had 26 points and a career-high 14 assists.
Rodions Kurucs added a season-high 19 points and vital energy in his third start. But it was a late rally that won it for the Nets (17-20).
The Nets, trailing 109-100 with 4:15 left, closed on a 17-4 run on which they held the Heat to 2-for-8 shooting with two turnovers.
Caris LeVert hit a go-ahead corner 3 with just over a minute left. And Joe Harris, the only starter who didn’t crack double figures in points, fought for four big rebounds — two on the offensive end — during the winning run.
The Nets came into the game with the second-worst fourth-quarter margin in the NBA and also with the memory of having allowed 16 offensive rebounds in blowing a late lead on Dec. 1 against Miami. But Friday, they flipped the script, outrebounding the Heat 51-40, including 14-4 on the offensive glass.
“The whole game we had great energy, great effort,” coach Kenny Atkinson said. “It just comes back to the game will reward you when you play with that kind of grit and passion and energy. That it was maybe one of the highest-intensity games we’ve played all year.
“Our backs were to the wall against an excellent team. Real credit to the guys. Our defense was outstanding in that second half. … A lot of really good signs.”
Another was handing out 31 assists to just 10 turnovers — the Nets’ fourth-highest assist total this season and their third-fewest turnovers.
Jimmy Butler poured in 33 points for the Heat (27-11). The Nets tried Dinwiddie, Kurucs, Taurean Prince (17 points), reserve Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot and even a zone on Butler. They never found a way to stop him, but did just enough in the final minutes to beat him.
The Nets raced out of the gate, hitting three 3-pointers to open a 9-0 lead, but their momentum didn’t even last the rest of the quarter.
After taking a 17-7 lead, they got outscored 35-15 over the rest of the first quarter, their 10-point cushion flipping to a 10-point deficit.
Caris LeVertPaul J. BereswillBehind Butler and Bam Adebayo (22 points), the Heat led 69-57 at the break. But the Nets mounted a rally, highlighted by Dzanan Musa diving into the front row to save a loose ball and Luwawu-Cabarrot drilling a 3 to knot it at 89-all with 38.7 seconds left in the third.
Goran Dragic untied it with a 3 to open the fourth, and the Nets left James Johnson wide open for another to make it 98-91.
But after falling behind 109-100 on another Butler bucket, the Nets launched their winning rally. Dinwiddie hit a 3, and then after Harris grabbed an offensive rebound, LeVert rattled in a step-back 3 to pull them within three with 3:37 left.
“Really kind of calmed the ship in the sense we were right there on the brink and that really big step-back 3 was like, ‘OK, here we go,’ ” Dinwiddie said.
LeVert nailed a wing 3 to put the Nets ahead 112-111 with 1:09 to play.
And after forcing a miss from Derrick Jones, another Harris offensive rebound set the table for a huge jumper from Prince. He roared in celebration after giving the Nets a three-point advantage, and after a cosmetic Butler layup, Harris iced it at the line.
“I was like 1-for-7, so in my mind next seven are going in,” LeVert said. “It was good to see them go in, good to get the win,” LeVert said.
“We like to protect home court. We haven’t been doing a great job of that. … We had a great defensive effort in the second half. We’ve got to keep that going.”



