Without Caris LeVert and Jarrett Allen, the Brooklyn Nets were out of sorts Wednesday night in a 120-107 loss to the Miami Heat at Barclays Center.
Allen, sidelined for the second straight game by illness, should return shortly, but the Nets will be without LeVert for an extended period after he dislocated his right foot Monday night in Minnesota. Without their leading scorer, the Nets struggled offensively until a late surge and finished shooting 40.2 percent from the field (41-102) and 28.6 percent from 3-point range (8-28).
Down by as many as 23 points in the third quarter, the Nets closed within nine, 106-97, after Shabazz Napier keyed a 14-3 run and capped it with a 3-pointer with 4:28 remaining, but got no closer.
Spencer Dinwiddie led Brooklyn with 18 points, his 13th double-figure scoring effort in 14 games. Rondae Hollis-Jefferson had 14 points and nine rebounds and Napier finished with 13 points. Ed Davis, making his first start of the season, had nine rebounds.
The Heat, despite shooting just 27.6 percent from 3-point range, shot 54.1 percent overall.
As the Nets struggled to score early -- just 15 points nine minutes into the game in a first quarter in which they shot 6-for-24 -- Miami went up 37-21 after the first quarter and eventually stretched its lead to 21 points on multiple occasions, beginning with a 5-0 spurt to start the second quarter.
But with the Heat up 49-21, the Nets put together a 10-2 run to close within 13 points. An 8-2 run made it 56-48 Miami before the Heat took a 61-49 lead at halftime. With the Nets still within 65-55 just under the 10-minute mark of the third quarter, the Heat outscored them 23-10 over the next eight minutes to take their largest lead of the game at 88-65.
UP NEXT
The Nets go down to Washington D.C. on Friday to play the Wizards, then return to Barclays Center to complete a back-to-back against the LA Clippers on Saturday.