LeBron James Seethes, and Nets Are Hotter, Winning 5th in Row
LeBron James spent much of Friday night fuming. Almost as soon as he stepped on the court, he was jawing at the referees, shooting them incredulous glares. He slammed the ball to the floor early in the fourth quarter when teammate Michael Beasley committed an offensive foul. He told a heckler along the baseline to sit down.
And after four quarters of impassioned play and a tense overtime period, James could only sit on the Miami bench with a faraway stare as the Nets outlasted the Heat to notch a 104-95 win in double overtime at Barclays Center. The victory extended the Nets' winning streak to five games.
An angered James could only take the Heat so far. He led a fourth-quarter comeback that erased a double-digit deficit. But he barreled into Shaun Livingston with 36 seconds left in overtime and was called for a charge - his sixth foul of the game. He finished with 36 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists.
'It was huge, and it was a gutsy win as well,' Joe Johnson said. 'We were resilient tonight. I thought guys fought throughout the whole game.'
James boiled over with 8 minutes 37 seconds left in regulation, when Mirza Teletovic wrapped him in a two-handed headlock on a drive to a basket - a flagrant foul 1. James jumped into Teletovic's face and needed to be restrained by his teammates. James made two free throws to cut the lead to 3 points.
He scored 13 points in the fourth quarter - 9 after Teletovic's foul - and tied the score at 89-89 when he made one of two free throws with 40.8 seconds remaining. Paul Pierce put up a step-back, 3-pointer at the buzzer that rattled in and out of the basket, sending the game into overtime.
Norris Cole forced a second overtime when he dribbled the length of the court and sank a pull-up jumper from the top of the key to tie the score at 93-93, leaving 3.3 seconds on the clock. Pierce missed another fall-away jumper at the buzzer.
The second overtime proved anticlimactic. James watched as his teammates managed only 2 points, while the Nets cruised to victory.
'Switches, trying to get up into him, making him feel uncomfortable,' Shaun Livingston said about the Nets' efforts to unnerve James. 'Those guys, if they start feeling good, teams are in for a long night.'
The Nets had prevailed over the Heat, 101-100, way back on Nov. 2, their home opener. The Nets marveled at how long ago that game seemed. The team's look and feel has changed so much since then. The Nets have experienced so much adversity, undergone so much soul-searching.
It is early - not even halfway through the N.B.A. season - but Brooklyn fans will hope these two wins over the defending champion Heat hold at least some meaning.
The Nets did many things right. They outrebounded the Heat, 49-39. They had 17 second-chance points compared to the Heat's 2. Johnson led the Nets with 32 points, while Pierce added 23. Livingston played more than 51 minutes and finished with 19 points and 11 assists.
Since the New Year, the Nets have looked like a wholly changed team. Often running smaller lineups - starting with Pierce at power forward and Kevin Garnett at center - the offense has taken on a new fluidity. Their defense has become swarming and suddenly impenetrable. Erik Spoelstra, the Heat coach, said he was not surprised.
'When they were going through their struggles last month, everyone was ready to make strong conclusions about them or anybody in the Eastern Conference, and I just kind of rolled my eyes,' Spoelstra said. 'It was way too early, way too premature. They have a lot of talent.'
Spoelstra added: 'All of a sudden you get confidence, you get continuity, your outlook changes your game. Everything can change in the snap of a finger.'
The night, all around, had an altered feel. For one thing, both teams wore jerseys with players' nicknames on the back. The back of Kevin Garnett's jersey read Big Ticket. James wore King James. Andrei Kirilenko went with the Cyrillic spelling of his name. (Some players could not use their first-choice nicknames. Mason Plumlee wanted Ma$e, but was told the name was trademarked by the rapper. He went with Plums, instead.)
And Barclays Center, lukewarm so many nights, was pulsating with energy from the start. Pregame pyrotechnics left a thick haze hanging over the court, while Johnson and James provided some early heat from the floor.
Johnson made his first eight shots before finally missing one. But the Nets corralled the offensive rebound on the play and swung the ball back to Johnson, who drained a 3-pointer to bring his first-quarter total to 22 points. James finished the first quarter with 16 points, on 5-for-6 shooting.
Over five games from Dec. 27 to Jan. 4, Johnson averaged 7.0 points and shot just 30.0 percent from the field. But he scored 23 points Monday and had 27 more Wednesday night.
Miami was missing three regular starters. Dwyane Wade, who played 39 minutes during a loss to the Knicks on Thursday night, was ruled out just before the game because of left knee soreness. Mario Chalmers (Achilles' tendinitis) and Shane Battier (sore quadriceps) were also unavailable for the Heat. The onus to produce was all on James.
'You're talking about one of the best in the world,' Kidd said about James before the game. 'You can throw multiple bodies at him; he's seen everything. You just got to hope that he misses.'
The Nets threw everything at him, getting under his skin, earning what they hoped for.
REBOUNDS
Deron Williams (sprained left ankle) sat out Friday night and was not expected to play Saturday night.
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