Lowly Nets embarrass Heat at home

As bad losses — really, really bad losses — go, it would seem impossible to top this Heat debacle on Friday.

Against a 13-22 Brooklyn team, the Heat was brutal offensively, horrible in transition defense and consistently a step slow in a 111-87 loss at AmericanAirlines Arena.

The Heat, which had won six in a row against the Nets, shot a season-low 33.7 percent from the field and 3 for 26 on threes.

Miami led 18-8, then unraveled. Brooklyn unleashed a 21-2 run, then put together another 20-5 spurt later in the first half to surge ahead 59-39 at halftime. Brooklyn’s lead grew to 38 in the third.

Hassan Whiteside, in his second game back from a 13-game absence, scored eight of Miami’s first 10 points and closed with 17 points and eight rebounds in 20 minutes.

Josh Richardson scored 19, but the Heat’s offense was a mess otherwise. Tyler Johnson opened 0 for 10 and closed 4 for 15.

Goran Dragic, who hasn’t shot well in a month, went 3 for 12 on an 11-point night. Wayne Ellington was 2 for 10, Kelly Olynyk 1 for 7.

The Heat, which has the 10th-longest sellout streak in NBA history, dropped to 8-9 at home, with five of those losses by 15 points or more. Miami fell to 18-17, with a Saturday night game in Orlando up next.

This story was originally published December 29, 2017 at 10:19 PM with the headline "Lowly Nets embarrass Heat at home."