MIAMI — In the Nets’ biggest game of the season, Deron Williams was a $100 million dud.
Williams missed all nine of his shots and went scoreless Thursday night as the Nets were downed by the Heat 94-82 and fell behind 2-0 in this best-of-seven Eastern Conference semifinal to the two-time defending champions.
“I was aggressive, I got to the paint,” Williams said. “I just didn’t hit any shots. I’ll still do the same thing as far as when I’m doubled — make the right pass, get into the lane, attack in transition. I just couldn’t buy a bucket and didn’t get to the free-throw line either.
“I’ll definitely be thinking about it.”
Now faced with the tall task of beating Miami four times in the next five games — starting with Game 3 in Brooklyn on Saturday — the Nets will undoubtedly spend the next two days thinking about how they let this one slip away after trailing by two going into the fourth quarter and leading for much of the game’s first 36 minutes.
But as the Heat took control in the final quarter, including a 10-2 run over a nearly five-minute span to put the game away, Williams fell flat as he missed all three of his shots and appeared to pass up multiple open looks from the perimeter. Even when he did try to be aggressive, it usually resulted in drives to the rim ending with wild shots that produced nothing.
“I just missed some shots,” Williams said. “I had a couple of open looks, and I got to the basket, thought I got fouled on a couple and no call. But you’ve just got to keep playing.”
This was the first time in 60 career playoff games Williams has gone scoreless, and the second straight game he failed to get to the foul line. It was the kind of performance the Nets simply couldn’t afford from their star player on the road when they knew their chances of turning this into a deep series were much greater if they left South Beach with a split.
Instead, they’re going to head home knowing there is no margin for error, and know they have to win the next two games to have any realistic chance of advancing to the Eastern Conference Finals.
“Their experience showed,” said Paul Pierce, who finished with 13 points, but just one in the fourth quarter. “Being together showed.
“They made the right plays, they got the right shots, and we didn’t. It’s something we’ve got to go back and look at and try to clean it up. I think we’ll be fine.”
They won’t be fine, however, if they don’t get a lot more from their franchise point guard, the man the Nets have based every move they’ve made around since acquiring him in a blockbuster trade three years ago from Utah. The Nets traded for Williams and subsequently re-signed him to a five-year, $98 million contract in July 2012 in order to lift them up in games such as Thursday night’s.
Though Williams did other things well, finishing with seven rebounds and six assists, the Nets simply aren’t going to win when he goes through a game without making a single shot.
“I thought he had some great looks,” Nets coach Jason Kidd said. “Some were just around the rim but the other thing I thought he did well was he set the tone, attacking, getting the ball in the paint. He had seven rebounds and six assists.
“We look for him to bounce back in Game 3 with making shots but I thought overall game, he was really good.”
He wasn’t good enough to get the Nets a win, though, despite getting strong play from their bench — including a team-high 20 points from Mirza Teletovic.
Now, as they come home with their season on the line, the Nets hope Williams can rediscover his game in time to give them a chance to make this series at all interesting.
“He’ll be fine,” Pierce said. “I think he’ll be fine. He’s a competitor. He knows how to bounce back. He’s done it his whole life. I think he’ll be fine.”
The Nets had better hope Pierce is right.