The Miami Heat hosted the Brooklyn Nets last night in the American Airlines Arena. Before tonight’s game, The Heat’s Goran Dragic sat out with a cold, which meant Heat rookie Josh Richardson would be in the starting lineup. Miami also needed to win against Brooklyn if they wanted to continue climbing up the Eastern Conference Standings.
In the first quarter, former Miami Hurricane Shane Larkin kicked things off for Brooklyn with a pair of free throws followed by a reverse layup from Thaddeus Young, a basket from Bojan Bogdanovic and a layup by Brook Lopez. Miami would respond back with Amare Stoudmire and Dwyane Wade as they got their team on the board. Larkin would hit a long 2 pointer for the Nets, but the Heat would continue to score with help from Wade and Josh Richardson. Miami would have the lead for a little while until Bogdanovic would take the lead for Brooklyn. The Heat would catch up with a 3 pointer from Richardson and a layup from Deng as the Heat would then tie the game. Miami would get some scoring from Joe Johnson, Gerald Green, and Hassan Whiteside but Brooklyn would get a layup from Young and a few basket from Lopez to close the first quarter with a tied score of 27, with both teams shooting over 60 percent.
In the second quarter, Miami and Brooklyn went back and forth in tying the game until Chris McCullough would make a 3 pointer to give the Nets the lead. Miami would fight back with a pair of free throws from Whiteside, a layup from Winslow after a nice assist from Josh McRoberts, who would get his name on the stat sheets with a jump hook. Miami would go on an 13 to 4 run until Lopez would get a basket from Young. The Nets were shooting 66 percent while the Heat were shooting 65 percent from the floor during the second quarter. Wade would make two layups, one of which was on a fast break, while Lopez was still scoring for the Nets. By halftime, the score is 57 to 52 in Miami’s favor.
As the third quarter began, Young and Larkin would jump start Brooklyn’s offense, while Wade and Stoudemire would do the same for the Heat. Wade would have 22 points in the quarter, including a mid range jumper. Brooklyn would answer back with a fadeaway from Lopez and a hook from Young. After a few baskets from Brooklyn, Miami would go on a 16 to 4 run. Brooklyn would answer back with a pair of baskets from Young, a basket from Sean Kilpatrick, and another basket from Lopez. Josh Richardson would score a 3 pointer and one free throw, and Brooklyn’s Henry Sims would make a basket of his own to end the 3rd quarter with a 82-75 lead in Miami’s favor.
As the fourth quarter commenced, Miami would jump out the gate with a finger roll from Richardson and two points from Whiteside, including an alley-oop from Joe Johnson. Miami would go on an 11 to 4 run thanks to the production of Whiteside before Donald Sloan and Lopez would make a few baskets for Brooklyn. Heat rookies Richardson and Winslow would make a key play on both ends of the floor as Richardson would block a shot, allowing Winslow to pull off a dunk. Winslow however, would limp back to the locker room after a collision with one of the Nets players, but there was some confirmation that Winslow wasn’t in any serious pain. Miami and Brooklyn would trade baskets until the closing moments of the game but the Heat would walk away with a 110-99 victory.
The Heat dominated on the court against Brooklyn, as Wade and Whiteside led the charge. This was a much needed win for the Heat, who also need the Atlanta Hawks and Boston Celtics to lose their games, which would allow them to take 3rd place in the Eastern Conference standings, however, the Heat would move up to 4th place with Boston losing to the Los Angeles Clippers last night and the Atlanta Hawks getting a close victory over the Chicago Bulls.
“We all had to breathe collectively today, without our point guard, without somebody who puts pressure around the rim and attacks,” said Wade, who jammed his wrist early but had no ill effects the rest of the way. “I took it upon myself to be that one to attack tonight.”
“Dwyane Wade. He’s like wine,” Nets interim coach Tony Brown said. “He gets better with age. He was great, he attacked us all night.”
“It was tough once D-Wade got going,” Lopez said. “We had to focus a lot on him. He definitely controlled the game, controlled the tempo. Obviously, he’s integral to what they do. He made a lot of tough baskets, vintage D-Wade stuff.”
Miami are also 13 games above the .500 mark for the first time this season and they look to keep winning games towards the end of the season.
For the Nets, Thaddeus Young scored 20 points, Brook Lopez with 25 points, and Sean Kilpatrick made 14 points. For the Heat, Dwyane Wade led the way with 30 points, Josh Richardson made 16 points, Justise Winslow scored 13 points, and Hassan Whiteside made a career high 27 points.
The Heat now embark on a 3 game road trip as they will face the Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers hat game starts at 10:30 on Wednesday in the East Coast and 7:30 on the West Coast.
The Heat Check Magazine 