The Nets came into Game 3 of their Eastern Conference semifinal with the Heat, already facing a 2-0 deficit, knowing their backs were firmly up against the wall.
“I don’t think the percentages of teams that go down 3-0 is very good,” Deron Williams said.
The Nets then went out and played like a team fighting for its playoff life. Using an 18-5 run in the third quarter to break open what had been a close game, the Nets went on to claim a 104-90 victory over the two-time defending champions in front of a sellout crowd of 17,732 inside Barclays Center, pumping new life into their season after opening the series with a pair of losses in Miami.
“We were aggressive,” said Kevin Garnett, who was also more aggressive himself as he finished with 10 points and seven rebounds. “The difference between these two games and I think tonight was we were aggressive from the giddy-up. Although they came out aggressive themselves, I thought we kept it for 48 minutes.”
LeBron James finished the first quarter with 16 points on 6-for-7 shooting — including a ridiculous and-one layup that came on a flagrant foul on Paul Pierce, who tried to wrap him up around his neck to prevent it only for James to power through it for the basket.
From then on, however, he seemed almost disinterested in the proceedings, going 2-for-8 over the final three quarters and finishing with 28 points thanks to making several trips to the foul line.
“Sometimes it’s just the way [the game] is played,” James said. “I mean, I felt great in the first quarter. The ball just didn’t find my hand a lot in the second quarter, and that’s what happens.”
While the ball wasn’t finding James, it was finding its way into the hands of open Nets 3-point shooters. Thanks to a combination of spacing the floor with as many as four 3-point shooters at a time and Miami’s swarming, trapping defense, the Nets were able to rotate the ball around the perimeter for one open 3-pointer after another, knocking down a franchise record 15 shots from behind the arc on 60-percent shooting.
“It’s a momentum boost for us,” said Joe Johnson, who hit five of those 3-pointers to lead the Nets with 19 points. “Obviously the basket seems a little bigger. I thought the thing that was great about it was the ball movement … us getting into the teeth of the defense and kicking out for wide-open shots. That was the biggest key.”
The biggest reason the Nets were able to get those wide-open looks was because of the play of point guard Deron Williams, who bounced back from a scoreless performance in Game 2 to play a much better in Game 3. Despite the fact Williams finished just 3-for-11, he was constantly finding the open man on the perimeter, which allowed him to finish with 11 assists and take advantage of Miami often leaving a shooter uncovered outside.
“It’s just huge,” Garnett said of the way Williams bounced back. “I told him after the game you’re not going to play great every night. You bring so many different dimensions to the game … lean on that.”
The Nets also got big contributions again from their bench, including 15 points and 10 rebounds from Andray Blatche and 12 points from Mirza Teletovic — including four 3-pointers. The Nets shut down Miami’s secondary players, with no one outside of the Big Three of James, Dwyane Wade (20 points) and Chris Bosh (12 points) finishing in double-figures. They pulled away in the second half, as an 18-5 run in the third quarter gave the Nets a 77-61 lead with 1:13 left in the third and the Heat never seriously challenged again.
“I think it’s huge for us,” Johnson said of the Nets’ depth. “That means we got a great collective team effort.
“You can’t game plan for that. … We’re playing great as a team.”
Now, after putting themselves in a 2-0 hole in the series, the Nets have a chance to leave Brooklyn with it even, if they can pull off another win in Game 4 on Monday. But to do that, they had to make sure they won Game 3 first, which Pierce said they did by not panicking about getting down in the series.
“We knew we didn’t do a few things right in the first two games,” Pierce said. “So, we said, ‘No need to panic. We’re going to get the stuff right we need to get right, and come home and execute.’
“Right now, we’ve just got to take it one game at a time. Tonight was the type of urgency we’re gonna need for the rest of the series.”
After their win in Game 3, the Nets have themselves a series.