Nets Embarrass Heat, Leading By 38 Before Winning 111-87
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MIAMI (AP) — Joe Harris scored a career-high 21 points, Rondae Hollis-Jefferson added 18 and the Brooklyn Nets simply embarrassed the Miami Heat 111-87 on Friday night.
Caris LeVert and Jarrett Allen each had 12 for the Nets, who were actually down 18-8 early — then outscored Miami 85-37 over the next 28 minutes. LeVert added a career-best 11 assists.
It matched the biggest win by the Nets over the Heat ever, going along with the 24-point victory by New Jersey on Dec. 1, 1989, which was early in the second season in Miami franchise history.
Josh Richardson scored 19 points and Hassan Whiteside added 17 for Miami. The Heat shot 3 for 26 from 3-point range, and 34 percent from the field overall.
The Heat started on a 8-0 run. That ended their list of achievements for the evening.
Brooklyn scored 13 unanswered points, grabbed the lead by the end of the first quarter and never relented. The Heat shot 3 for 17 in the second quarter, trailed by 20 at the half and then got down by as many as 38 late in the third.
It was the fifth time this season the Heat trailed by as many as 30 in a game — none of the previous margins as big as the 38-pointer the Nets enjoyed in this one.
TIP-INS
Nets: Brooklyn beat Miami for the first time in the teams' last seven meetings. ... The largest margin of victory in Nets franchise history at Miami, before Friday, was 22 — in 1991. ... Harris is the eighth Nets player to have a 20-point game off the bench this season. ... The Nets shot 49 percent, and finished with seven players in double figures. They also outrebounded Miami 54-43.
Heat: Miami missed a chance to move three games over .500 for the first time since the end of the 2015-16 season. The last time the Heat were three games over without Dwyane Wade on the roster was April 18, 2001. ... Heat coach Erik Spoelstra got a technical for arguing with 1:11 left in the third, and his team down by 37. ... Miami played 41 home games in 2017, going 27-14.
NETS HISTORY
The Nets led by 35 points after three quarters, matching the franchise record for margin in a road game after 36 minutes. The other time it happened was March 13, 1993, when New Jersey was up 104-69 going into the fourth at Phoenix.
HEAT INJURIES
Miami was again without Justise Winslow, James Johnson, Dion Waiters, Rodney McGruder and Okaro White, all injured. The Heat expect them to all miss Saturday's game in Orlando as well.
UP NEXT
Nets: Visit Boston on Sunday, ending a five-game trip.
Heat: Visit Orlando on Saturday, their final game of 2017.
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