MIAMI — The Heat were running and dunking, having a grand old time against the Nets. So Terrence Williams took a stand and sent a message by taking out LeBron James with a hard foul.
The message was meant for the Nets. The message was received by James.
“We play New Jersey again?” James asked, after hearing Williams felt James put a little too much oomph into his fall into the first row after the third-quarter hard hit. “Just once? I’ll be ready for it.”
Oh, goody. The Nets already were dancing in a rattlesnake pit. So they shook up a hornet’s nest on their way to their fourth straight defeat, a 101-89 Heat victory that James will remember when the clubs meet again April 3 in Newark.
To a man, the Nets felt Williams’ foul, deemed flagrant by the refs, was not over the top.
“We disagreed with it [being flagrant],” coach Avery Johnson said.
“It was a good, hard foul — he was just sending a message,” said Anthony Morrow, who had 19 of his team-high 25 points in the first half.
“A good NBA foul. We need more of that,” said Brook Lopez, who scored all 12 of his points in the first half.
Even James felt it was fair.
“I don’t think it was a dirty play,” he said. “It was a little bit more than just a regular foul. I’ve been hit harder than that in my career.”
If there was anything wrong with the play, with 32.5 seconds left in the third quarter, it was that it came too late. The Heat were splicing together a highlight reel of dunks and spectacular passes as Dwyane Wade (29 points), James (23) and Chris Bosh, all broke 20 together for the first time.
“The coach told us early to have fun,” Wade said.
They did. And while the Heat were busy turning an interesting and competitive game — yeah, Nets-Heat, go figure — into a blowout, James scooped up a loose ball and headed for a full-court dash. Williams took a stand that would do Giants linebackers proud. He lowered his shoulder and rammed James, sending him into the first row.
“You’ve got to put your foot down somehow in a basketball game. When people are going to the hole and going behind the back and dunking and stuff like that, you’ve got to do something about it,” Williams said. “It’s nothing against LeBron. I wasn’t trying to hurt him. I’m a basketball player. I compete like they do.”
No one had a problem with that. Then Williams suggested James was looking for an Oscar.
“Falling all into the stands was a little much, I think,” Williams said.
What do you think, LeBron?
“For me, exaggerate a fall, never. I’ve never been a flop guy. I love contact. I didn’t exaggerate anything,” James said. “It didn’t send much of a message because we went on an 8-0 run after it.”
Actually, 7-2. James missed one of two free throws, then buried a 3-pointer. After the Nets scored, James drilled another triple at the buzzer, this one from just inside the Georgia border. James raced to the Heat bench hands aloft celebrating the shot that made it 87-68. The sell-out crowd cheered wildly, then looked for any opportunity to boo Williams.
The night wasn’t officially over until all 48 minutes elapsed. But the end really came at 2:50 of the third, before the flagrant.
The Nets, through the shooting of Morrow and a strong start by Lopez (off his 3-of-17 Orlando horror), had put a mild scare into Miami and even were tied in the third. So Miami rattled off a 14-4 run, culminating with a stunning dunk by James. Trailing the play, he took a no-look lob pass from Wade, who left the ball behind him for his teammate. James promptly caught and slammed, electrifying the joint. A little later, Williams took a stand.
And LeBron circled his calendar.