Heat squanders late nine-point lead, loses in Brooklyn
The Heat played with fire the entire second half in Brooklyn on Friday and ultimately got burned, squandering a late nine-point lead in a stinging loss to a team that entered with seven consecutive defeats.
Ahead 109-100 with 5:09 left, the Heat went cold, had defensive lapses and ultimately unraveled in a 117-113 loss to the Nets.
Brooklyn unleashed an 8-0 run to cut the Heat’s lead to 109-108. But even after Bam Adebayo ended that run with a layup, the Nets soon after went ahead on a Caris Lavert three with 1:09 left. Derrick Jones Jr. then missed a corner three and Duncan Robinson missed a corner three that could have tied the game with six seconds left.
The Heat led by 12 at halftime, saw Brooklyn rally to tie the game after three and then went ahead nine before the late collapse, which dropped Miami’s record to 27-11 overall and 10-10 on the road. The Heat scored four just points in the final 5:08.
Hours after being fined $35,000 by the NBA for incidents involving TJ Warren and Jimmy Butler’s social media post afterward, Butler erupted on the Nets, scoring 19 in the first half and making all nine of his free throws while being serenaded with “TJ Warren” chants from the Nets crowd. He finished with 33 points and nine rebounds.
Bam Adebayo had 22 points, seven assists and six rebounds, and Goran Dragic scored 6 of his 17 in the fourth quarter. Miami also got a lift from James Johnson, who replaced injured Justise Winslow as Miami’s fourth reserve off the bench and hit two big fourth-quarter threes.
But despite shooting 52 percent, Miami - for the fourth time in three weeks - lost a road game to a team that entered below .500, a Nets team that was struggling badly and has been without injured guard Kyrie Irving for nearly two months.
This story was originally published January 10, 2020 at 9:48 PM.
