NBA: Heat too hot for Nets in the third

source: www.gmanetwork.com

The Brooklyn Nets had a huge run to tie the game at the half. The Miami Heat used an even bigger run in the third to put this one away.

The visiting Miami Heat used a 36-14 third quarter to blow out the Brooklyn Nets, building to a 105-85 win, Wednesday (Thursday, PHL time) at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.

The victory by the reigning NBA champs ended an eight-game win streak by Brooklyn on their home court. It also improved Miami's record to 29-13, to keep them on top of the Eastern Conference, and dropped the Nets to 27-19.

Nine points by LeBron James in the first quarter helped the Heat to a 30-20 advantage after twelve minutes. Lay-ups by Dwyane Wade got it to a first half high of 12 twice, at 36-24, and then at 41-29, the latter coming with 7:30 still to play.

However, the home team Nets used an 18-6 run, fueled by a combined 10 by big men Brook Lopez and Andray Blatche, to knot things at 47-all. A Chris Bosh dunk momentarily gave the lead to Miami anew, but Deron Williams canned a jumper with 2.3 ticks left in the half to forge just the second tie of the game up to that point.

The third quarter saw the Heat reassert their dominance though, as the team shot 15-of-23 from the field, or 65.2 percent, en route to their 36 points. Their defense meanwhile, held the Nets to just 14 points, all from three players, Lopez, Williams and Joe Johnson, for an 85-63 lead.

Brooklyn couldn't cut into the huge deficit any more than 17 points in the fourth, which led to both sides sending in their bench to close this one out.

LeBron James led all sides with 24 points, nine rebounds, seven assists and two steals. Dwyane Wade added 21 markers. Chris Andersen, signed to a second 10-day contract, was a nice spark off the bench, tallying three points, five rebounds, a steal and a block in under 10 minutes of play.

Brook Lopez led the Nets with 21 points, seven rebounds and three blocks. Joe Johnson scored 16, but needed 15 attempts, while Deron Williams was held to just nine points and five assists. Williams was also forced into a team-high six turnovers.

Miami wound up shooting better than 50 percent from the field, 51.8 percent, and beyond the arc, 57.9 percent. The Heat also got a whopping 20-to-4 advantage in fast break points. - AMD, GMA News