THE FACT: The Nets opened up their second season at Barclays Center by beating the Miami Heat for the first time in 14 tries.
THE LEAD: A balanced attack and fluid ball movement (when they were protecting the ball) helped the Nets past the Heat, 101-100. In front of a positive home crowd and backed by an assortment of unique lineups, the Nets outplayed the defending champs for much of the game before the escaping a late Miami rally. Paul Pierce (19 points) and Joe Johnson (17 points) paced an ever-shifting lineup that featured eleven different players. Filling in for Jason Kidd, assistant coach Joe Prunty registered the first win of his lengthy NBA career while manning the sidelines.
LeBron James excelled for the Heat down the stretch, finishing with 26 points, 7 rebounds and 6 assists. Dwyane Wade added 21 points and 5 rebounds, while Chris Bosh battled foul trouble, finishing with 17 points.
Down double digits for the second straight game, James exhorted his teammates in what looked like a bit of panic -- perhaps an immediate sign that the Heat will face a significant challenge this season from the Nets.
THE STAT: The Nets won despite turning the ball over 19 times and shooting under 70% (27-39) from the free throw line.
TURNING POINT: Down eight with four minutes remaining, James was whistled for traveling. Deron Williams quickly found Johnson for a 3-pointer from the right wing to extend the Nets lead to 11, which allowed the Nets enough room to barely hold off the Heat.
INJURY UPDATE: Two days after playing limited minutes in the season opener in Cleveland, which included sitting for the entire fourth quarter, Williams (eight points, eight assists) played 27 minutes, including significant chunks of the fourth quarter... Andrei Kirilenko saw under 12 minutes of action in his season debut.
QUOTABLE: "The two halves just happened to be the first and third quarter and the second and the fourth quarter. So they won the second and the fourth. They were a little bit more aggressive in particular down the stretch of the game and the last few minutes of the game. We were the aggressor in the first and third."
- Prunty
QUOTABLE II: "Defending home is very important...it's going to be a pleasure playing here, straight up."
-- Kevin Garnett, after describing the Barclays Center crowd as electric
INSIDE THE ARENA: David Beckham, Fabolous, Jadakiss, Chris Rock, Magic Johnson, Michael Bloomberg, Geno Smith, and Allen Iverson attended the game.
NOTABLE: The Nets started the game on an 11-3 run, receiving a partial standing ovation heading into the first break in play. .... Bosh picked up his fifth foul with 4:16 remaining in the third quarter. .... Midway through the fourth quarter, James used Andray Blatche to break what could have been a nasty fall after Blatche committed a traveling violation and got James to jump prematurely. .... No Net played more than 31:03 and 9 players played between 19:28 and 31:03. .... The game ran long as, not only was it televised on national TV, but the teams combined to shoot 75 free throws.
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