MIAMI — The Nets came into this series proclaiming that while the Heat may have more star power, they have enough depth coming off their bench to combat it.
But that didn’t prove to be the case in Tuesday’s loss in Game 1, when the Nets’ secondary players were thoroughly outplayed by the Heat’s supporting cast, Not surprisingly, Miami cruised to an easy win.
“We gave [them] five players in double-figures,” Deron Williams said before the Nets practiced Wednesday at American Airlines Arena. “That’s tough. We don’t usually do things like that. Two guys, maybe three, but when five guys are getting their numbers, that’s tough. That’s not very good on our part.”
It’s never going to be easy trying to slow down Miami’s Big Three of LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, who combined for 51 points on 22-for-39 shooting from the field in Game 1. But the Nets will live with that kind of production from the Heat’s stars if that means they limit the role players around them.
That certainly didn’t happen in Game 1, though, as the Heat got strong showings from surprise starter Shane Battier, along with Ray Allen, Mario Chalmers, Norris Cole and Chris Andersen to pull away in the second half.
Allen, in particular, killed the Nets, turning back the clock as he buried four 3-pointers and finished with 19 points in his first playoff game against former Celtics teammates Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett since he left Boston before last year.
“[Allen] was the X-factor for them, I thought,” Shaun Livingston said. “When he’s hitting shots, that’s the third scorer they need, and that’s what makes them a championship-caliber team. Especially with the shots he was hitting, which were contested.
“We’ve got to do a better job with him, staying with his body and really making the game hard for him and making him work defensively.”
As the Nets have advanced to the second round for the first time in seven years, it has been easy to forget they have been doing all of this without leading scorer Brook Lopez, who remains out for the season after fracturing the fifth metatarsal in his right foot in December.
“I don’t think so,” Williams said when asked if people have underestimated Lopez’s absence. “I think everybody knows what Brook could have meant for us, but what’s the point of talking about somebody that’s not going to play for us right now?
“Our focus right now is trying to get Brook healthy and getting him back for next year, because he’s not coming back for this series. It definitely could have been a luxury to have him, but that’s not the case.”