The Nets finally proved that they can play with the Heat on Thursday night, battling with the number one seed through two overtimes at the Meadowlands, but they just couldn't hit any shots down the stretch, and the Heat escaped with a three point victory and a 3-0 lead in the series. The Nets had a chance to win the game in regulation, but Jason Kidd missed a shot at the buzzer. They were down 2 at the end of the first overtime and Vince Carter hit a buzzer-beater to send it to a second. After Carter tied the game with a jumper 45 seconds into the second OT, the Nets missed 8 straight shots, and the Heat were able to seal the game with free throws down the stretch. The Nets took 23 more shots than the Heat did, but they shot just 39% from the field, including 3 of 23 (13%) from 3 point range. Kidd finished with a triple-double, and Carter finished just 1 rebound shy of one of his own. Richard Jefferson gave the Nets a huge lift with 23 points and 8 rebounds in 45 minutes, but missed a key lay-up that could have tied the game with 40 seconds to go in the second overtime. No NBA team has ever come back from a 3-0 deficit in the postseason.
- Boxscore - NBA
- Miami Outlasts Nets in Thriller - NBA
- Miami 108, New Jersey 105, 2OT - Chris Sheridan - AP
- Nets Try, Try Again but Sink Deeper - Howard Beck - New York Times
- Nets Learn Impossible Is Almost Overrated - Ira Berkow - New York Times
- Heat pass road test; take 3-0 lead - Ira Winderman - South Florida Sun-Sentinel
- Pretty ugly? It'll do - Dave Hyde - South Florida Sun-Sentinel
- Kidney Punch - Joe - JoeNetsfan
- Nets fall to Heat in double overtime - Dave D'Alessandro - Star-Ledger
- Shaq starts to rev up - David Waldstein - Star-Ledger
- Nets notes: Collins cites Red Sox miracle - Dave D'Alessandro & David Walstein - Star-Ledger
- A Double-Dose of Disappointment - Bob Considine - Asbury Park Press
- Double the pain - Al Iannazzone - Bergen Record
- Nets missed opportunity - Adrian Wojnarowski - Bergen Record
- Nets run out of overtimes - Ohm Youngmisuk - New York Daily News
- Without go-to guy, Nets go nowhere - Mitch Lawrence - New York Daily News
- Lucky roll can't stop Miami - Greg Logan - New York Newsday
- Nets Slip Into a Three-Fall - Fred Kerber - New York Post
- Tough Medicine that was Hard to Swallow - Mike Vaccaro - New York Post