Nets knock off Heat for third time this season in 96-95 win

After taking down the division leading Raptors, the Nets traveled to Miami and knocked off the Heat for the third straight time. With this win, the Nets have won the season series against Miami, and thanks to a Wizards loss, Brooklyn is now the fifth seed in the East. With a 23-9 record since the New Year, the Nets have played the best basketball among eastern conference teams.

The Nets found themselves having trouble with stopping Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh early, and found themselves in a six point hole on multiple occasions in the first quarter. Wade and Bosh combined for 15 of Miami's 22 first quarter points. For the Nets, though, it was Shaun Livingston, Paul Pierce, and Andray Blatche who combined for 17 of Brooklyn's 22 points.

Both teams were playing solid defense, but neither team shot the ball particularly well. Brooklyn shot 47 percent while Miami shot just 42 percent from the field. With the Nets trailing for the majority of the quarter and Shaun Livingston sitting with foul trouble, Blatche entered the game and sparked the Nets, bringing them back to finish the first quarter in a tie.

Brooklyn began hitting a few shots in the second, and went on to pull in front of Miami by six at one point, but cooled off once the starters came back into the game. To nobody's surprise, Miami would respond late in the quarter on an 8-0 run to send the game to halftime in a tie. Both team's shot the ball worse than they did in the first, and the Nets brought their field goal percentage down to 41 percent for the half. For Miami, it continued to be Wade and Bosh who kept Miami in the game. LeBron James had his share of struggles in the half, scoring just seven points on 2/6 shooting from the field.

It was the Mirza Teletovic show in the second quarter. In just under nine minutes, he put up 11 points on 4/6 shooting. That isn't what impressed people, though. He drew the assignment of guarding LeBron James in his time one the floor, and didn't disappoint. Not known for his defense, Mirza kept James on complete lock-down, holding him scoreless from the field. He also played a bit of volleyball with a shot from Michael Beasley.

Paul Pierce simply caught fire and put the Nets on his back in the third. He put up 17 points in the quarter alone, and was the main factor in Brooklyn leading Miami 73-71 headed into the fourth. Both teams struggled shooting in the first half, but that didn't continue in the second half. Miami got up to 46 percent from the field, and the Nets got themselves up to 48 percent on the back of Paul Pierce. LeBron picked up the pace and doubled his scoring output in the first half.

The fourth quarter was a nail-biter. It was a back and forth effort for both teams, and it was obvious that one team was not going to pull away from the other. For Miami, Chris Bosh was the guy who kept them in it late in the game, and made a clutch and-one with 30 seconds remaining to cut the Brooklyn lead down to one. Deron Williams would go on to miss what would be the dagger with seven seconds left. With five seconds on the clock, Miami failed to get a shot off in time, and the Nets walked away with their third straight victory over the Heat.

Paul Pierce led all scorers with 29 points on 9/12 from the field and 5/7 from the three point line, and also grabbed four rebounds. Mirza Teletovic added 17 points off the bench on 6/11 shooting and 3/5 from the three point line. Shaun Livingston put up 13 points, grabbed seven rebounds, and dished out four assists.

Final Score: 96-95 NETS
Most Disappointing Stat of the Game: Deron Williams and Joe Johnson combined 4/18 shooting
Promising Stat of the Game: Nets forcing 17 Miami turnovers
Scariest Moment of the Game: Chris Bosh hitting late game and-one
Best Moment of the Game: EVERYTHING
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