RECAP – FINAL: #Nets 96 – #Heat 95

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Updated: March 12, 2014

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The Brooklyn Nets defeated the Miami Heat by a score of 96-95 in Miami.

It was a very ugly start with Brooklyn turning it over on three straight possessions and fell behind 16-10.  The Nets turned it over seven times in the first but hung around to keep it close behind Shaun Livingston’s six points and Paul Pierce’s seven points to tie the game at 22.

Andray Blatche and the second unit started the quarter and played well to keep the momentum going. Mirza Teletovic came on to ignite Brooklyn with 11 points, four rebounds and three blocks to help push the Nets ahead 42-34. The Heat put on a run to close the half tied at 42 behind 1-for-10 shooting from 3.

The third quarter opened with Brooklyn hitting their first four 3-pointers to stretch the lead to seven points but the Heat kept coming and started to hit a few 3-pointers as well.  Pierce had 17 points in the quarter going 3-for-3 from deep to help Brooklyn keep a slim 73-71 lead after three.

The second unit played well again to start the fourth and stretched the lead behind Teletovic and Livingston again. They forced turnovers and slowed down the fast breaking Heat. Both teams hit big shots back and forth with the Nets clinging to a 92-91 lead with 2:45 left in the game.  With the Nets leading 96-95 with 3.5 left Livingston tipped the in bounds pass headed for James and time ran out as the Nets swept the Heat 3-0 on the season.

The Nets are the 4th team to defeat Miami 3 straight times in a single season in the ‘Big 3’ era (Chicago, Boston twice)

Pierce finished with 29 points and four rebounds going 5-for-7 from 3-point range.

Brooklyn has a 39-7 advantage over the Heat in second chance points this season and only gave up a single second chance point tonight.

The Nets are now 6-1 without Kevin Garnett during this stretch.

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“Team basketball. That’s who we are. It’s not just one guy. That’s how we win.” Jason Kidd talking to the media post-game.

“Team effort. We were all into the game mentally with a playoff atmosphere. We were all going to fight tonight.” Shaun Livingston post-game.

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KEY STATS: The Nets bench outscored the Heats bench 36-13 and changed the entire game starting the 2nd and 4th quarters with spurts.

PLAYER OF THE GAME: Mirza Teletovic changed the entire flow of the game tonight in the second quarter with 17 points, 4 rebounds and 3 blocks/

NEXT UP: The Nets will be back in action Saturday night when they travel to play the Washington Wizards in Washington.  The game can be seen on YES at 7:00.

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