Deron Williams certainly couldn’t have done much worse than he did in the Nets’ 94-82 loss to the Heat in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference semifinals Thursday, when he finished scoreless for the first time in 60 career playoff games.
But the way Williams played in the fourth quarter, in particular, was part of a growing trend in his play this postseason, during which he has been underwhelming in the final quarter throughout the first two rounds of the playoffs.
Williams played the fourth quarter of Game 2, missing all three shots he attempted as the Nets saw the Heat pull away and take a 2-0 lead in the series. In the eight games Williams has played in the fourth quarter in these playoffs, he has averaged 2.6 points and 1.3 assists while shooting 25 percent overall (4-for-16) and from behind the 3-point arc (2-for-8) while going 11-for-17 (65 percent) from the foul line.
“I just missed some shots,” Williams said after Game 2. “I had a couple of open looks, and I got to the basket, thought I got fouled on a couple and no call. But you’ve just got to keep playing.”
The Nets successfully implemented several key adjustments from Game 1 to Game 2, including getting improved play from their bench — led by Mirza Teletovic’s 20 points. Marcus Thornton also added 10, and the bench did a much better job of keeping the Heat out of the paint after allowing them to spend Game 1 basically in a continuous layup line.
The one thing the Nets failed to do was close down Miami’s secondary players, as Ray Allen poured in 13 points. Allen, Norris Cole, Rashard Lewis, Mario Chalmers and Shane Battier combined to shoot 9-for-16 (56.3 percent) from behind the 3-point arc.
“If you watch, I would say everybody is watching Heat basketball these days,” Kevin Garnett said. “You know what they’re going to do. You know where the ball is going to end up.
“We got to slow down the Ray Allen’s, the Coles, the B-team. They do a good job playing as a team, moving the ball, putting you in stretches and they’re being aggressive. So it’s nothing that’s new. We had a stretch where we had some great momentum but we couldn’t get a rebound. … It is what it is.”