Nets no match for Heat
The worry was that the Nets would pull another one of their “Impressions of Inanimate Objects” tributes and play without even a modicum of energy. But against the Heat last night, they played with energy.
Efficiency, rebounding, interior defense and early success were other matters.
“We got off to a really terrible start,” coach Avery Johnson said in an understatement.
“We took a lot of quick shots,” Deron Williams said. “Didn’t really execute well.”
Hence, that terrible start. So again the Nets, though hustling this time, fell way behind early and spent most of the game scrambling back, which is tough to do against a team of Miami’s talent. And it’s tougher still when you get out-rebounded, 50-30, and pounded on points in the paint, 60-30.
So the 108-94 loss to the Heat in Newark was not about energy or heart or desire. It was all about the Heat being a whole lot better, getting ahead early and then just beating back every run the Nets made at them.
“It’s not even about New Jersey — it’s about us,” said LeBron James, who scored 15 of his 31 points in the first quarter to lift the Heat (54-23) to the lead and then eight more in the final 5:36 to snuff the Nets (23-53). “It’s about us coming out, working our habits and not taking one game for granted.”
But it sure looked like they did for a while. After vaulting to a 26-10 lead in the first quarter, the Heat seemed to ease up and play down to the level of the Nets, who simply never quit and spent much of the game searching for workable combinations. That was tough because they were again without Kris Humphries (ankle/heel) and then lost Anthony Morrow (knee tendinitis) early in the second half.
The Heat helped, though. Miami, which got 18 points from Dwyane Wade, playing with a sore thigh, was 19-of-32 from the line and committed 15 turnovers. Once down 21, the Nets pulled back to within a mere six points when Brook Lopez (16 points and just three rebounds) hit two free throws with 7:44 left.
Miami responded with a short jumper by Chris Bosh (18 points), a 3-pointer by James Jones and a James free throw to go back up 89-77. The run swelled to 17-8 for a 100-85 lead, and James controlled matters in the stretch.
“He was good. He was LeBron. He was his typical self, took over,” said Williams (18 points, 12 assists), who played a third straight game after sitting six with a strained right wrist. “He was picking us apart out there.”
The Nets, despite 17 points and nine rebounds from Travis Outlaw, lost their sixth straight game and 10th in the past 11.
“We battled,” Johnson said. “We missed 16 makeable shots in the first half. That’s a lot, but we made some of those to help cut the deficit. But, again, their key players took over.”
Miami, while not impressive, did what the better team does. It won.
“We’ve been dealing with different expectations all year, and we understand that,” Wade said. “We have played better in these games. . . . We have to continue to keep focus.”
