The Nets had their chance to reset in Miami. Instead, the same problem followed them into Thursday night’s rematch.
Brooklyn lost its 10th straight game at Kaseya Center, falling to the Heat 126-110 in the second and final game of a two-game road set. Two nights after committing 19 turnovers, the Nets coughed it up 18 more times Thursday, and Miami turned those mistakes into 24 points. The record is 15-47.
The Nets shot just 43.2% from the field, were outscored 54-34 in the paint and watched the third and final meeting between the teams this season slip away in familiar fashion.
The turnover trouble arrived almost immediately. Six giveaways in the first eight minutes set the tone, with Michael Porter Jr. responsible for three and Nic Claxton responsible for three, even as the Nets’ defense held Miami under 40% shooting in the opening minutes. Bam Adebayo didn’t need much time to warm up, though. He scored six points in his first three minutes, picking up where he left off Tuesday.
Brooklyn did find pockets of rhythm, and it came the same way it often has for this group, by leaning on the 3-point line. After trailing by as many as seven with 5:03 left in the first quarter, the Nets dialed in from deep. Consecutive 3s from Porter, Noah Clowney and Nolan Traoré helped Brooklyn claw back and briefly pull ahead by two.
But the quarter still favored Miami. The Nets outshot the Heat in the first, doubled them up at the 3-point line and still headed to the second down 31-26. Miami controlled the free throw line and committed just one turnover to Brooklyn’s eight, the difference between a good-looking stretch and a lead that held.
Traoré carried Brooklyn’s early scoring punch, putting up seven points on 3-for-4 shooting in his first nine minutes, while Porter started cold at 1-for-4 in the same span. The Nets also got a strong start from their reserves, with Ben Saraf, Day’Ron Sharpe and Ochai Agbaji providing energy at both ends.
Adebayo, meanwhile, had 11 points in his first nine minutes.
Miami pushed its lead to 14 with 4:20 left in the half, the Heat’s largest advantage at the time, and Brooklyn answered with a needed burst: a Clowney 3-pointer, a Claxton dunk and another Porter 3 to cut the deficit to eight. Porter, in particular, found his stroke when Brooklyn needed it. After a shaky first, he hit three of his five attempts in the second quarter, giving the Nets enough offense to hang around. They went into halftime down 60-56 after Traoré floated in his eighth and ninth points off a Claxton assist with 6.9 seconds left.
Brooklyn shot 52.4% in the first half, but Miami shot 52.3%, and the Nets’ 11 turnovers were the separator again.
Claxton added a milestone in the middle of the grind. His first block of the night was the 600th of his career, moving him past Mike Gminski for the fourth-most blocks in Nets history. He also became the seventh player in the NBA to reach 600 rejections since entering the league in 2019-20.
For a moment, it looked like Brooklyn might flip the game with effort and timely shooting. A 22-5 extended run spanning the second and third quarters put the Nets ahead 64-63 with 9:45 left in the third. Then, with 7:08 left and the game tied at 72, Clowney drew an offensive foul on Adebayo, who had 19 points at the time. It was Adebayo’s fifth foul, sending the three-time All-Star to the bench for the rest of the quarter.
Miami still didn’t blink.
Even after the Heat hit back with a 7-0 burst, Porter answered with his sixth 3-pointer of the game to stop the bleeding and keep Brooklyn within striking distance. But Adebayo’s absence didn’t change the shape of the quarter the way the Nets needed. Miami outscored Brooklyn 23-11 after Adebayo went to the bench and carried a 12-point lead into the fourth.
Then the game broke. Miami opened the final period with a 19-7 run to stretch the margin to 24. Brooklyn responded with a 9-0 run of its own, but by then the damage was done.
Miami’s interior defense was a constant factor, driven in part by the activity of Kel’el Ware, who had seven blocks and 16 points. Offensively, the Heat leaned on the usual suspects even without Norman Powell. Tyler Herro finished with 25 points, Adebayo added 21 and Jaime Jaquez Jr. had 18 off the bench.
Porter led the Nets with 27 points, seven 3-pointers and 13 rebounds, and after rough turnover outings Tuesday, Traoré and Saraf finished with nine and two assists, respectively, and four combined giveaways. Ziaire Williams added 15 points off the bench.
Brooklyn also played without Egor Dëmin for a third straight game. Before tip, head coach Jordi Fernández said soreness from Dëmin’s plantar fasciitis has “increased” lately and the team is “trying to find the best way for him moving forward.” In other words, there’s no timetable for his return.
The Nets return to action Saturday at Detroit, a matchup with the Eastern Conference-leading Pistons at Little Caesars Arena. Brooklyn was annihilated 130-77 the last time it played there on Feb. 1.
