GAME 1 RECAP – FINAL: #Nets 86 – #Heat 107
The Brooklyn Nets were defeated by the Miami Heat by a score of 107-86 in Miami to take Game 1 and the series 1-0.
Rundown: The Heat came out strong and got up 15-12 early. Paul Pierce hit his first two 3-pointers for six quick points. Both teams shot over 50 percent for the quarter but the Heat had 14 points in the paint to hold a 22-20 lead after one. Joe Johnson kept the Nets in it with timely shots and the they outscored the Heat 14-6 over the final 3:32 of the first half to trail 46-43 at the half. Johnson scored 10 points to go with Deron Williams nine points. The Heat had a 26-10 edge in the paint and Brooklyn had eight turnovers and trailed by 11 at one point. The Heat went on a 13-3 run to lead 68-54 with four to play in third. The game was starting to get away from the Nets for a bit as Williams drained another long 3-pointer, this time to end the third quarter and after three quarters of play the Heat led 79-66 by outscoring them 33-22. The fourth quarter began with more missed shots from the bench and more turnovers. The lead grew to 20 points and Jason Kidd, who seemed to give up sooner than expected, allowed the bench to finish the game in which they were outscored 61-43 after halftime and outscored 54-28 in the paint. Brooklyn gave up 56.4 percent shooting to the Heat and only shot 47 percent and lacked the defensive intensity that won all four games during the regular season against Miami. Miami took Game 1 107-86. Momentum Changers:
The Heat widened the lead to 13 points at the end of the third quarter a second quarter ending 3-pointer by Deron Williams and had the momentum going into the fourth.
NUMBERS: Joe Johnson is the 5th player in this postseason w/ 7 games of 17+ points (Kevin Durant, Paul George, Blake Griffin, Russell Westbrook). Jorge Gutierrez made his first-career appearance in the NBA Playoffs. Kevin Garnett did not score in a playoff game for the first time in his career (16 minutes)
Jason Kidd: “We couldn’t protect the paint. And on the other end the ball was sticking too much.” “I wanted to get the starters a break and some rest.” Wanted to bench to get it under 10, but never happened Quotables Kevin Garnett: “The Heat hearing about the Nets 4-0 regular season record was “gasoline on the fire” for Miami coming into this game.” We need to “take a page” from Heat & and attack more in Game 2.” Deron Williams: “Our defensive game-plan wasn’t executed at all. Theme of the night: layups, layups, layups. It came down to defense. Our defensive game plan wasn’t executed at all. We were just roaming free.” Paul Pierce: “This was a three-point game at halftime, fellas. We’re not overreacting. We still think we can get a win in this building.” [/quote_box] [/box] [box]
NEXT UP: The Nets will be back in action Thursday night when they play Game 2 in Miami against the Heat. The game can be seen on ESPN2 at 7pm.
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