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Rain, rain go away! You too, bad shooting! Nets fail to take advantage of depleted Heat (again); Lose 95-91

By Anthony Puccio

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BROOKLYN -- The Nets were winners of two straight heading into Tuesday night's matchup against the Miami Heat. They've routed both the Philadelphia 76ers and Charlotte Hornets prior to Miami, displaying fluid offensive possessions with a swarm of aggressive defense -- holding both teams below 90 points.

Prior to the game, the Nets aired a nice video tribute to Nets/NBA superfan Jeffrey Gamblero, who died Sunday. Staff and players honored Gamblero with black warm up t-shirts with the number 44 and "Gamblero" written in neon lettering. Many fans also came to Barclays dressed in Gamblero's trademark neon t-shirt under a Nets jersey.

For the second time this season, the Nets were up against a very depleted Miami team, who played without Chris Bosh, Josh McRoberts and Danny Granger. However, despite the banged-up Heat essentially riding on the back of Dwyane Wade, the Nets were unable to bring home a victory as they lost, 95-91.

The Nets were manhandled in the first quarter, allowing Dwyane Wade to scored 12 of the Heat's 33 points. Perhaps, it was the leakage from the ceiling that affected the Nets play and postponed the game 31 minutes. Barclays Center blamed the leak on a problem with the installation of a green roof on the arena. From that point on, the Nets contained the Heat to 22 points in the second quarter, but Miami still found their largest lead of the night of 15 at the three minute mark of the second quarter.

One of the few bright spots for Brooklyn, Mason Plumlee, scored a season-high 21 points and grabbed nine rebounds, including a career-high five offensive rebounds. In his six starts this season, Plumlee is averaging 12 points on 58.5% shooting and 8.2 rebounds in 27.7 minutes per game.

They trailed by 10 heading into the fourth quarter, but the Nets came storming back late. They trailed by six with under three minutes remaining, but two consecutive turnovers from Deron Williams increased the deficit back up to eight. On the following two possessions, Bojan Bogdanovic , then Joe Johnson hit a three-pointer each to bring the deficit back down to two with 35 seconds remaining.

It was Dwyane Wade 'hero ball' time. Wade isolated, then forced up a contested, fadeaway three pointer that missed right, but a foul was called for Luol Deng on the rebound. Deng hit the two free throws with 11 seconds remaining, which was then followed up with a missed layup from Jarrett Jack.

More squandered opportunities, another disappointing loss. "We have to play better." Deron Williams said. "We have to play better on both ends of the floor. We need to be more aggressive and pick up our pace a little bit; avoid giving these teams runs, massive runs."

The Nets shot 39% from the field and 28% from three compared to the Heat's 45.8% from the field. The Nets forced 18 Heat turnovers, but coughed the ball up 17 times themselves. On a positive note, the Nets dished out 25 assists, which marks the third straight game the Nets handed out 25+ assists. They also outscored the Heat 38-26 in the paint, which again, makes it the third straight game the Nets have scored more points in the paint than their opponent.

The Nets are now 5-7 at home. Joe Johnson commented on the importance of owning a home court advantage ...

"We can't be bad at home. This is where you have to come out and know you're gonna get a win."

And Lionel Hollins, when asked why the Nets can't extend a winning streak beyond two games, responded with a simple answer. "Because we’re not good enough. You have to be good enough to win multiple games. … You’ve got to be a good team."

Top performers for Brooklyn: Mason Plumlee notched a season-high in points, leading all Nets' scorers with 21 points, nine rebounds and one block on 8-for-12 shooting. He also committed four turnovers. Joe Johnson finished the night with 16 points on 6-for-14 shooting, while Deron Williams chipped in 15 points, 11 assists and two steals. Sergey Karasev also score 11 points.

Top performers for Miami: Dwyane Wade led all scorers with 28 points, five rebounds , four assists and one steal on 12-for-24 shooting. Behind him was Luol Deng who finished with 18 points, six rebounds and Shabazz Napier with 11 points on 3-for-4 shooting from three.

Injury note: Nets.. Brook Lopez (back); Miami ... Chris Bosh (calf), Josh McRoberts (knee) and Danny Granger (ill).

At game's end, Karasev who's been playing well talked about muscle tightness in his side, which trainer Tim Walsh treated in the third quarter. He put his chances at playing on Wednesday in Toronto as "50-50."


Quarter by quarter summary:

First quarter ... Dwyane Wade vs. Brooklyn Nets. How does that sound? It may've been the wrong idea for Lionel Hollins to give Sergey Karasev the defensive assignment on Wade early. Wade started finished the quarter with 12 points, hitting on four of his first five shots to start to the game.

At the 1:47 mark of the first quarter, a rather bizarre situation occurred. The Barclays Center roof was leaking right by the Nets three-point line, similar to where the royal couple sat last week vs. Cleveland. Both teams headed into the locker room as the game was postponed until further notice. The delay was a total of 31 minutes.

Following the incident, the Heat outscored Brooklyn 12-4 to finish the first quarter and take the lead heading into the fourth quarter, 33-25.

Second quarter ... The Nets started the quarter off shooting 2-for-11 with five turnovers in the span of eight minutes. The Heat took control early, and looked to ride it out for the rest of the half.

The Nets were only outscored 22-20 in the quarter alone, but their 40% shooting and 12 turnovers made it seem a lot worse than it actually was. Mason Plumlee was the only Nets player in double figures with 13 points. For Miami, Dwyane Wade led all scorers with 17 points on 7-of-14 shooting, with Luol Deng chipping in 10 points to the Heat lead.

Score at the half: Heat 55, Nets 45.

Third quarter ... The Nets started the second half on a good note. They cut their 10 point deficit down to three, but a late resurgence from the Heat increased the deficit right back up to 10 heading into the fourth.  It was another low scoring quarter for Brooklyn, being outscored 21-20 with the Nets shooting 38% from the field. Dwyane Wade continued to lead all scorers with 21 points, while Mason Plumlee led Brooklyn with 17. On a positive note, the Nets committed just one turnover in the quarter compared to their 12-first half turnovers.

The depleted Heat led the Nets, 76-66.

Fourth quarter ... The Nets held a 17-11 scoring advantage through the first nine minutes of the final quarter. They cut the deficit down to four behind an emphatic Deron Williams layup. Momentum was on Brooklyn's side.

The Heat found a nine point lead with under three minutes remaining following two Deron Williams turnovers. The game looked to be over, but a three-pointer from both Joe Johnson and Bojan Bogdanovic cut the deficit to two with 35 seconds left.

The game was on Wade's shoulders. It was an isolation that turned into a contested, fadeaway shot from Wade that planked off the side of the rimb. The refs called a late loose-ball foul on Bojan Bogdonovic, which sent Luol Deng to the line for two free throws. He nailed both and the Nets were on their last leg down five with 12 seconds remaining.

Jarrett Jack proceeded to miss a wide open layup with three seconds left, and the game was over.

Final score:

For more on the Miami Heat, check them out at Hot Hot Hoops.

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