For 24 minutes, the Nets held their own against the Heat.
They forced 22 turnovers. They collected more second-chance points.
The return of D’Angelo Russell from a one-game absence due to personal reasons provided the expected boost against a Heat team playing without suspended star Jimmy Butler.
“Usually,” Nets head coach Jordi Fernandez said, “should be able to win that game.”
But sandwiched in between those promising signs was a dominant third quarter by the Heat, which allowed them to pull away and hand the Nets — despite late comeback attempts — a 106-97 loss for their sixth consecutive defeat and 11th across the past 12 games.
It spoiled a night that featured Vince Carter’s jersey retirement, with the former All-Star and current Hall of Famer becoming the seventh player in Nets history to have his number retired during a halftime ceremony, and it marked the latest setback for a Nets team navigating injuries and attempting to remain competitive despite a mostly depleted roster.
Russell and Keon Johnson led the Nets with 22 points, while Noah Clowney and Nic Claxton added 13.
“It just comes down to us and transition and the two-[on]-ones and finishing, making the right play,” Fernandez said, while later describing the loss as a “self-inflicted” one. “I want our guys to be confident. We’ll work at it. We’ll watch it. And we’ll be better.”
They even pulled within 10 points with under four minutes remaining in the fourth quarter after Jalen Wilson hit a 3.
But then Terry Rozier responded with one of his own.
The Heat held off any last attempts at a comeback by the Nets after they trimmed their deficit to seven inside of the final minute.
The Nets didn’t lead after taking a 2-0 advantage on Claxton’s layup in the opening minutes of the game, but they did pull within four points by halftime after Russell made two 3s and Clowney added another one in the final two minutes of the second quarter.
But led by Tyler Herro, Nikola Jovic and Terry Rozier, tasked with filling the lost production of Butler, the Heat collected 29 points in the third quarter, outscored the Nets by 10 and avoided any late collapse across the final 12 minutes.
And on a night dedicated to a past era in the franchise’s history, to a former cornerstone who elevated the Nets and sparked playoff pushes, Brooklyn issued a stark reminder of just how far of a distant memory the early 2000s have become.
“I just think as a group we didn’t capitalize on getting the stops we needed,” Russell said of the third quarter. “At the start of the third, we got a lot of good stops and came down and just didn’t capitalize.”
The Nets were originally slated to get Ben Simmons back from a three-game absence because of an illness, but he was ruled out moments before tipoff due to lower back soreness.
“Probably is a question for him on when [it happened],” Fernandez said. “Like I’ve always said with Ben and everybody else, we’ll prioritize their bodies and their health, and that was the right thing to do.”
Forward Jalen Wilson finished with a career-high six assists and season-high nine rebounds, while adding 12 points and falling just short of the second double-double of his career.
