With Deron Williams sidelined with a sore right calf for last night’s game against the Heat, Nets coach Avery Johnson said his team had a big mountain to climb in order to defeat Miami.
For about 44 minutes, it looked as if the Nets would climb to the summit of that mountain. But then LeBron James decided to knock their feet out from under them.
James scored Miami’s final 17 points, including outscoring the Nets 11-2 over the final 2:19, to lift the Heat to a 101-98 victory in front of a raucous sellout crowd of 18,711 at Newark’s Prudential Center primarily made up of Heat fans.
“The guy is so big and strong,” Nets coach Avery Johnson said of James, who finished with 37 points. “We attempted to double-team him twice, and he just overpowered our guys. And then, when the third defender came, he beat the third defender … then when we fouled him, he still scored.
“I am at a loss for words … I don’t know what to say. Our guys played their butts off.”
Despite being without arguably their three best players in Williams, Gerald Wallace and Brook Lopez, the Nets still led the Heat late into the fourth quarter, including a 96-90 advantage with 2:06 remaining. But several spectacular plays by James, combined with several mistakes on the offensive end, kept the Nets from closing out what easily would have been their best win of the season.
“We lost that game,” Anthony Morrow said. “He did what he was supposed to do. We gave them all the opportunities in the world when we let him get in transition. Like a great shooter … if you leave me open, I’m going to make shots.
“If you don’t do that, you take that away … we didn’t do that. We let him get into transition, and he took advantage. That’s what he’s supposed to do.”
The loss spoiled a brilliant effort from rookie guard MarShon Brooks, who finished with 24 points, seven rebounds and six assists in one of his best all-around performances of the season.
“We had a real good chance to win,” Brooks said. “We just didn’t make a couple plays down the stretch, and LeBron kind of took the game over down the stretch.”
Williams wasn’t the only star to sit out last night, as Dwyane Wade also missed the game. According to the Heat, Wade sat as part of a “maintenance program” in order to prepare for the upcoming playoffs.
The Nets also held a moment of silence before the game for former center Dwayne Schintzius, who died Sunday. Schintzius spent three of his eight NBA seasons with the Nets.