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MIAMI (AP) — Mikal Bridges scored 27 points, and the Brooklyn Nets opened the third quarter on a 31-6 run on the way to rolling past Miami 129-100 on Saturday night and leapfrogging the Heat back into the No. 6 spot in the Eastern Conference.
Cam Johnson added 23 points and Spencer Dinwiddie scored 15 for the Nets (40-34), who snapped a five-game slide. They’re only a half-game up on Miami (40-35) in the race for the sixth and final guaranteed playoff berth, but swept the Heat 3-0 this season and would also own a head-to-head tiebreaker.
“We had the mindset coming in that this was a playoff game,” Johnson said.
Max Strus scored 23 for the Heat, all of them in the first half. Tyler Herro scored 23, Jimmy Butler had 18 and Bam Adebayo finished with 16 for the Heat. Miami was outscored 64-31 after halftime.
“We have not been defending at a world-class level, the way we're capable of ... and the second half just became an avalanche,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said.
Strus came off the bench and made his first nine shots, one of them putting Miami up 51-37 midway through the second quarter. Over the next 14 minutes, the Nets outscored Miami 54-24 — completely turning the game around, eventually leading by 32 and, for now, putting Brooklyn in position to escape the play-in tournament that’ll decide the final two East playoff berths.
“You see how this March Madness is and you’re one and you’re done,” Nets coach Jacque Vaughn said. “And that’s part of it. I have not discussed any of the standings with this group. Really, we have gone day to day and tried to get a win.”
It was Brooklyn’s second trip to Miami this season. The first was Jan. 8 — which ended up being the last time Kevin Durant played for the Nets, and the last time Durant and Kyrie Irving played together. Durant left that game with a knee injury, then got traded to Phoenix, and Irving has since been dealt to Dallas, as well.
The Heat could have moved 1 1/2 games up on Brooklyn for sixth with a win.
"There has been nothing easy about this season and that doesn't necessarily mean that has to be a negative thing," Spoelstra said. “You have to embrace the struggle. You have to figure out ways to stay together ... but we just got categorically outplayed tonight.”
The Nets were 27-13 after that night, second in the East, just a game behind Boston for the best record in the NBA. They’re 13-21 since, yet still have the Heat looking up at them in the standings — which Vaughn insists he hasn’t discussed with his team.
“You need the momentum, the confidence, the reassurance that you can get it done,” Vaughn said. “So, haven’t tried to complicate it more than that.”
TIP-INS
Nets: Brooklyn has six wins in March and erased double-digit deficits in three of them. The Nets trailed Boston by 28 on March 3, trailed Minnesota by 12 on March 10, and were down by 14 on Saturday. ... The Nets were without Seth Curry (personal reasons) and Ben Simmons (back). The Nets don’t expect Simmons to return this season, though that decision has not been finalized.
Heat: Kyle Lowry turned 37 on Saturday. He’s the 12th player to appear for the Heat at the age of 37 or higher. ... The last time a Heat player had more points off the bench before halftime than Strus did on Saturday was Feb. 27, 2019, when Goran Dragic had 25. ... Miami shot 81% in the first quarter, the first time the Heat shot that well in any quarter since March 11, 2020, against Charlotte – also in a loss.
CLEVELAND WAITS
Brooklyn’s win meant Cleveland will have to wait until at least Sunday to clinch its first playoff berth since 2018 — and its first without LeBron James on the roster since 1998.
UP NEXT
Nets: Visit Orlando on Sunday.
Heat: Visit Toronto on Tuesday.
Daniel Weinman was crowned winner of the 2023 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event on Monday, taking home a record breaking $12.1 million in winnings. Weinman had to outlast the other 10,043 entrants to take home the prize and get his hands on his share of live poker’s largest ever prize pool – a staggering $93,399,900. As well as taking home the prize money, 35-year-old Weinman also got his hands on the WSOP Main Event bracelet. The huge bracelet contains 500 grams of 10-karat yellow gold, as well as 2,352 various precious gemstones.
Daniel Weinman won the World Series of Poker's main event world championship on Monday in Las Vegas, earning $12.1 million along the way. Playing in the tournament for a 16th year, Weinman was tops in a deep pool of 10,043 players vying for $93.39 million. His victory came after just 164 hands at the final table. "I was honestly on the fence about even coming back and playing this tournament," the 35-year-old Atlanta native told reporters afterward. Weinman's final table featured Jan-Peter Jachtmann, who landed in fourth place and took home $3 million, as well as Toby Lewis, who finished seventh and secured $1.42 million. According to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, the main event's entry pool far outpaced the previous record of 8,773 set in 2006. "I've always kind of felt that poker was kind of going in a dying direction, but to see the numbers at the World Series this year has been incredible," Weinman said. "And to win this main event, it doesn't feel real. I mean, [there's] so much luck in a poker tournament. I thought I played very well." Steven Jones finished second, securing $6.5 million. And Adam Walton settled for third and a $4 million prize.
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