The Heat forced eight turnovers in the pivotal third quarter. A sloppy first half kept the game close. James had four turnovers and Wade had three in the first half.

“We had too many turnovers in the first half … and we let them back in the game,” Wade said.

Forward Chris Andersen, who the Heat signed to a second 10-day contract on Wednesday, delivered a strong performance in his first meaningful minutes since joining the Heat.

Andersen checked in with the scorer’s table near the end of the first quarter and proceeded to score three points and grab three rebounds in his first three minutes of work.

“My legs feel like noodles,” Andersen said when asked how felt physically after playing almost 10 minutes.

During one sequence in the first quarter, Andersen stole a pass from Nets point guard Deron Williams, dribbled the length of the floor and then scored with a Wade-esque Euro-step.

“I’ve always had,” Andersen said. “Just never had to use it. I’m used to dunking. I’ll be flying down the court soon, though.”

Wade scored 21 points on 9 of 16 shooting. Chris Bosh, playing with a sore foot, had 16 points and four rebounds.

Williams played despite suffering from flu-like symptoms leading up to the game.

He scored his first field goal with less than six minutes remaining in the first half and finished with nine points in 34 minutes. The Nets finished with 19 turnovers for the third game against the Heat this season.

A memorable fast break from Mario Chalmers to Wade to James put the Heat ahead 68-57 with 4:59 left in the third quarter. From there, the Heat poured on the pressure and the Nets faded. A few uncontested shots later and the Heat had a 19-point lead.

Lopez had 21 points and 17 rebounds for Brooklyn. Joe Johnson had 16 points and Andray Blatche scored 12 points and had six rebounds off the bench.

The Heat is 11-10 on the road this season and now travels to Indianapolis for an emotional rematch with the Pacers, who blew out the Heat a few weeks ago.