LONDON -- Turnover has been the operative word in the preseason for the rebuilding Miami Heat.

There has been turnover on the roster, with only six players remaining from the start of last year's training camp.

And that has led to turnover after turnover on the court through the first three preseason games in the Heat's quest to find a cohesive unit.

Miami learned another tough chemistry lesson Sunday when it committed 27 turnovers in a 94-92 loss to New Jersey in front of a capacity crowd of 18,689 at 02 Arena.

Vince Carter scored 19 points and made three late free throws to hold off the Heat, which rallied from a 19-point, first-half deficit to lead 84-82 with 2:44 left in the game. But the Heat couldn't come up with enough stops in the final minute.

Marcus Banks scored 19 points to lead the Heat, which also got 18 points from Dwyane Wade and 11 from Shawn Marion. Michael Beasley had 12 points and 11 rebounds off the bench. The Heat fell to 0-3 in preseason play and extended a victory drought that dates to 2006.

It was clearly more than a meaningless exhibition for the Heat and Nets, with both teams keeping their starters in during the fourth quarter. It gave the final moments the feel of a regular-season game, as both teams try to incorporate new supporting casts around their All-Star guards.

''It did feel like [a regular-season game] because there was a lot of energy in the building,'' Wade said of the game that had been sold out for nearly two months. ``Both teams were playing very hard, both teams pretty much had their starters on the floor and both teams wanted to win. They made more plays than us in the end. But this was good for us.''

Carter's jumper with 50 seconds left put the Nets ahead 88-86, and Yi Jianlian's putback with 18.6 seconds left stretched the lead to four. Carter made three of four free throws in the final 10 seconds to secure the win.

Yi had 17 points for the Nets, who improved to 2-0 in the preseason after sweeping the Heat in two games on the Europe Live Tour. New Jersey beat Miami 100-98 in overtime Thursday in Paris. The Heat also lost to Detroit in overtime in Miami.

''Both teams had the same objective in mind,'' Nets coach Lawrence Frank said. ``And that's to build good habits. They've got three players back from their [2006] championship team. We've got three back from last year.''

FINDING POSITIVES

Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said there was a silver lining in the three close losses in preseason play. The team flies back to Miami on Monday and has its next game Saturday in Jacksonville against the Orlando Magic.

''One thing we won't need to work on this week is late-game situations,'' Spoelstra said after the Heat shot 46 percent from the field and 36 percent from three-point range. ``But we had so many turnovers. And we just made it very tough on ourselves.''

Spoelstra and Wade said there were several reasons for the turnovers. Miami had 10 in the opening period and trailed 30-16 after the first quarter. Some turnovers, Spoelstra said, were caused by fatigue from days touring and meeting NBA obligations that kept the team on the go in Europe. Other turnovers, Wade said, were simply the result of sloppy play and growing pains from a new group of players getting accustomed to one another.

THE GOOD AND THE BAD

There were times when Miami appeared in sync. Wade's lob pass that led to a Beasley dunk in the fourth quarter was the best example. But there were plenty of miscues, such as when Wade lost the ball in the second half when he attempted to dribble behind his back.

''We have 10 new faces on this team,'' said Wade, who had eight turnovers, seven assists and six rebounds. ``It's going to take a while to really learn each other. The [turnovers] will go away.''

There were also promising moments. Forward Udonis Haslem returned from a foot injury and had four points and six rebounds in 22 minutes. And Beasley, the second overall draft pick, had his most complete game of the preseason.

''It's going better than I expected,'' Beasley said of his NBA transition. ``I'm just trying to improve on defense, get a half-step better. Overall, it's been fun.''

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