NBA

Livingston’s clutch defensive play sparks Nets

MIAMI — As Chris Bosh went to inbound the ball with 3.5 seconds left and the Nets clinging to a 96-95 lead over the Heat, he saw LeBron James slip toward the basket and appear to come free for a second.

But what Bosh didn’t account for was the long arms of Shaun Livingston, who managed to get a hand on the pass and tip it away, and after Joe Johnson kept it from going out of bounds, the clock ran out and the Nets escaped with a one-point victory over the two-time defending champions.

“It was obviously a turnover,” Bosh said after finishing with 24 points to lead the Heat. “I saw LeBron release, and I threw it to where he was, instead of where he was going.

“Shaun Livingston is 6-foot-8 with long arms, and he got a hand on it. That was it.”

For the Nets, it was a chance at redemption, after they had lost multiple times earlier this season on miscommunication on switches late in games.

“For us to get better at switching,” Nets coach Jason Kidd said of his mindset going into the game’s final play. “We lost some games early in the year on switching, and Shaun’s long arms got a deflection, and we got a stop when we needed to.”

The Nets won against the Heat without Kevin Garnett and Andrei Kirilenko, who remained out with injuries.

Garnett sat out his seventh straight game with back spasms, and Kirilenko missed his second straight with a sprained right ankle he suffered in Sunday’s win over the Kings in Brooklyn.

After Garnett was set to return to the starting lineup Monday against the Raptors, he suffered a setback late in pregame warmups and was scratched, with rookie Mason Plumlee getting the start. Garnett then didn’t make the trip with the team here, as Plumlee started again, and Kidd said it was unlikely Garnett would travel to Washington for Saturday’s game against the Wizards.

“We’ll see how he feels today, and revisit it,” Kidd said. “[But] most likely he’ll be out.”

Kirilenko had said before the team’s morning shootaround he was feeling good, and hoping he could play.
But the Nets announced about 45 minutes before tip that he wouldn’t be in the lineup.

It seems likely, however, that Kirilenko will play against the Wizards after being so close to playing against the Heat.