Nets top Heat 109-105 to add to Miami's miserable 1-4 start
MIAMI - Mikal Bridges scored 21 points, Lonnie Walker IV and Armoni Brooks each added 17 and the Brooklyn Nets erased a 15-point second-half deficit to beat the Miami Heat 109-105 on Wednesday night.
Dorian Finney-Smith scored all 15 of his points in the second half for Brooklyn, and Cam Thomas scored 13 for the Nets.
Tyler Herro scored 30 points for Miami, which has dropped four straight to fall to 1-4 — its worst five-game start since opening 0-5 in the 2007-08 season.
Bam Adebayo scored 21 points and grabbed 14 rebounds for Miami, and Jimmy Butler scored 20 points for the Heat.
Brooklyn's bench outscored Miami's 50-26.
Miami led by 16 in the first half and was up 75-60 with 4:30 left in the third quarter. The Nets outscored Miami 38-17 over the next 12 minutes; Trendon Watford's 3-pointer with 8:36 remaining put Brooklyn ahead 89-86 — its first lead since 5-2 — and the lead reached 98-92 on a three-point play by Walker.
And the Heat wouldn't lead again. They got within one, plus tried go-ahead 3-pointers while down by two on a pair of occasions, but Brooklyn held on.
Bridges — who hasn't missed a game in his NBA career, 396 regular-season contests and counting — wasn't on the floor or in the bench area to start the second half. He emerged shortly into the third quarter, took a seat and checked in a couple of minutes later.
The Heat fell to 6-3 when playing on Erik Spoelstra's birthday during his tenure as head coach. Miami had won its last five birthday games — the last loss coming at Brooklyn in 2013.
Miami used its fourth starting lineup in as many games, this time with Adebayo back in after missing Monday's loss at Milwaukee and with Kevin Love sidelined by a bruised left shoulder. Rookie Jaime Jaquez Jr. took Love's spot in the lineup.
The revolving door of early season injuries — after Miami's roster missed more games than any other in the league last season — is looking like a source of frustration.
"I'm not going to talk about anybody's injuries anymore," Spoelstra said. "If anybody's hurt, if they're not available, all they have to do is focus on being available. That's it. And I'm not talking about any injuries, or who's in, who's out."
UP NEXT
Nets: Visit Chicago on Friday in an In-Season Tournament game.
Heat: Host Washington on Friday in an In-Season Tournament game.