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BROOKLYN - Tonight we said goodbye to the hype and hello to the Brooklyn Nets. No more wondering what it would look like to see five All-Stars on the court at the same time. With the "new" Nets finally in action, at home, against LeBron James and the Miami Heat. It doesn't get much bigger.
And Brooklyn played as if they had a message to send the rest of the league, showing off their depth in a 101-100 victory.
The Nets entered tonight's game having lost 13-straight games to the Heat, and starting the season 0-1, while the Heat entered coming off arguably the most embarrassing loss they'll have to face all season, losing to the tankin' Philadelphia 76ers.
Brooklyn started energized and hyped up early, which resulted in the offense forcing active turnovers and getting out on the run, something they've been saying we'll see more of this year. They also took advantage of using Brook Lopez down low against Udonis Haslem and a "smaller" front-line.
The Nets held LeBron James to about as quiet of a first half as you could hope, with a first quarter where he had as many points as he did turnovers - three.
The hype carried through most of the half, with some sloppy play masking some, at time, crisp ball movement. The teams went into the half tied 47-47.
In the second half, the Nets finally figured out the third quarter, as they rolled on offense behind Paul Pierce, Joe Johnson and Andray Blatche. The Heat, on the other hand, couldn't get anything going, struggling to get into a rhythm. LeBron looked about as mediocre as I've ever seen him.
Brooklyn carried a double-digit lead into the 4th. The only question was whether or not they could close out a team they haven't beaten in their last 13 regular season tries.
And just like that, everyone - well, almost everyone - chipped in as the Nets finally did figure out how to close on Miami. It was almost exactly how we wanted to envision it, where nine players scored at least six points and no one player on Brooklyn took more than a dozen shots from the floor. Just an all-around complete game by the Nets.
In fact, nine Nets played 19 or more minutes, compared with five on the Heat. Similarly, four of the five Heat starters played 31 or more minutes. No Nets starter played more than 31.
Sure, the Heat put a scare into them at the end, but Paul Pierce, Deron Williams and Joe Johnson closed it out. Great win.
For more on the Heat, see: Hot Hot Hoops
- Heat at Nets - November 1, 2013 - Box Score - NBA.com
- Game Thread: Brooklyn Nets vs. Miami Heat, 8:00 PM - NetsDaily
- Game Highlights: Heat vs. Nets (Video) - NBA.com
- Terry Plays to the Crowd (Video) - NBA.com
- Chalmers to James (Video) - NBA.com
- Cole to Bosh (Video) - NBA.com
- Blatche's Circus Shot (Video) - NBA.com
- Kirilenko to the Rack (Video) - NBA.com
- Nets Show Off Their Depth Versus Heat - John Schuhmann - NBA.com
- Kevin Garnett talks about a big win over the Heat (Video) - YES Network
- Brook Lopez talks about the big win over the Heat (Video) - YES Network
- Joe Prunty talks about the big win over the Heat (Video) - YES Network
- Chris Rock talks about being a Brooklyn fan (Video) - YES Network
- Nets Hand Heat First 2-Game Skid Since January - AP
- Nets Prevail, Showing Heat That Rivalry Has Two Sides - Andrew Keh - New York Times
- Nets finally beat LeBron James with impressive in win over Heat - Filip Bondy - New York Daily News
- Paul Pierce and Joe Johnson help Nets survive LeBron James and Heat in home opener - Stefan Bondy - New York Daily News
- LeBron James listens to Kevin Garnett, says he will ‘worry about my own team’ - Stefan Bondy - New York Daily News
- Nets hold on to beat Heat, 101-100 - Rod Boone - Newsday
- Mikhail Prokhorov: 'I don't go halfway in anything' - Newsday
- Pierce leads Nets over defending champs Heat - Tim Bontemps - New York Post
- This Brooklyn team is deep — scary deep - George Willis - New York Post
- Chris Bosh: Nets stars will take while to gel - Howie Kussoy - New York Post
- Nets show what they can be this season in win over Heat - Jeff Zillgitt - USA Today
- Nets' November victory means more to Brooklyn than Miami - Ken Berger - CBS Sports
- Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce show Brooklyn Nets how to beat Miami Heat - Ohm Youngmisuk - ESPN New York
- Rapid Reaction: Nets 101, Heat 100 - Mike Mazzeo - ESPN New York
- Brooklyn Nets snap several losing streaks with win over Miami Heat - Mike Mazzeo - ESPN New York
- Notes: Five more minutes for D-Will - Mike Mazzeo - ESPN New York
- Mikhail Prokhorov Brooklyn Nets 'We're aiming for amazing' - Mike Mazzeo - New York Post
- Nets hold off Heat, 101-100, in home opener - Andy Vasquez - The Record
- Net notes: Prokhorov excited about off-season trade - NorthJersey.com - Andy Vasquez - The Record
- Final Score: Nets 101 Heat 100 - Jon Presser - SNY Nets
- Playing a big role, but in less minutes, Paul Pierce steps up against Heat - Josh Newman - SNY Nets
- In rare win over Heat, Nets front line proves that size does matter - Moke Hamilton - SNY Nets
- Brooklyn Nets have no clear road map to match Heat's championship standard - Dave D'Alessandro - Star-Ledger
- Nets serve Miami with Heat check - Gregory Hrinya - Examiner
- BEAT THE HEAT: Nets 101, Heat 100 (GAME GRADES) - Devin Kharpertian - The Brooklyn Game
- Brooklyn, led by unselfishness, stun Heat - Devin Kharpertian - The Brooklyn Game
- Nets make it worth the wait - Jason Schott - Brooklyn Fans
- NEW YORK: Heat rally falls short against Nets - Joseph Goodman - Miami Herald
- A losing record for Heat, after 101-100 loss in Brooklyn - Ira Winderman - South Florida Sun-Sentinel
- Winderman's view: Nets 101, Heat 100 - Ira Winderman - South Florida Sun-Sentinel