MIAMI — With the Nets facing a game they absolutely had to win, they smacked the Heat and won.
Mired in their worst losing streak of the season, the Nets came through with their biggest gut-check of the year, outscoring the Heat by 33 points in the second half for a 129-100 victory at Miami-Dade Arena.
The Nets trailed by as many as 14 points in the first half and were still down by 12 with just over two minutes left before the break. But they used an extended 44-11 blitz that spanned intermission to break the Heat.
The victory vaulted the Nets (40-34) a half-game ahead of Miami and back into the sixth and final guaranteed playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.
It’s shocking that it has come to this, considering where the Nets were the last time they set foot in this arena.
Before they defeated Miami on Jan. 8, the Nets had won 18 of 20 games and were just a half game behind the Celtics for the best record in the NBA. But Kevin Durant sprained his right MCL that day in South Florida, and the butterfly effect is still being felt throughout the entire league.
Durant never played for the Nets again, Kyrie Irving subsequently forced his way out in a trade, and Durant was subsequently dealt as well. But on Saturday, the two players that came back from Phoenix for Durant helped the Nets snap their five-game skid, their worst since they lost 11 straight from Jan. 23 through Feb. 12 last season
Mikal Bridges poured in a game-high 27 points and seven assists, while Cam Johnson added 23 points on 5-for-8 shooting from 3-point range.
“Do everything to win, stay together throughout the whole course. It’s going to get tough, but stay together as a team. They’re going to make a run and have plays, but let’s just stay together and stay connected and we’ll be all right,” Bridges said beforehand, acutely aware of the playoff ramifications of the game.
“We see it. We watch basketball. We see it. Even if you don’t want to see it, it’s going to pop up. I think every game is important. Since the trade happened, just like every game is important. Take it one game at a time. Try to go out there and play hard and try to get everything we can get.”
What they got was a victory that lifted them past the Heat (40-35), who had won seven of their last 10 games.
Before their skid, the Nets had been in fifth place and held a three-game lead on the Heat. They then tumbled below both the Knicks and Miami, into the dreaded play-in. At least, until Saturday night.
The Nets were sievelike to start, allowing the Heat to shoot 13-for-16 in the first quarter, and 6-for-7 from deep. Somehow they only trailed by eight.
It was 51-37 after a layup by Max Strus, who hit his first nine shots and finished with 23. It was 64-52 after a Bam Adebayo dunk off a Jimmy Butler feed with 2:35 left in the half, but that’s when the Nets took over.
The Nets closed the half on a 13-5 run, and it gave them the momentum they needed for the game-deciding blitz.
The Nets mounted an extended 44-11 run. After being unable to stop the Heat early, they now held Miami to 4-for-18 shooting, including 1-for-7 from behind the arc.
The suddenly strong defense allowed the Nets to finally get out and run. They got clean looks in transition and early offense. They went 17-for-23 from the floor, and 9-for-13 from deep.
A floater by Spencer Dinwiddie (15 points, nine assists and seven boards) made it 96-75 with 3:58 left in the third quarter.
The lead swelled to 32 in the fourth.
