Brooklyn, NY – LeBron James and the Miami Heat put another beat down on Brooklyn Nets with a thorough 105-85 victory Wednesday at Barclays Center.
Two days after being honored by President Barack Obama at the White House for last season's championship, the Heat shot 51.8 percent from the field and a stellar 11-of-19 from behind the arc to earn their 13th straight win over the Nets, including three this season by a combined 63 points.
James totaled 24 points, nine rebounds and seven assists for Miami, which turned a tie game on its head with a one-sided 36-14 third quarter. Dwyane Wade chipped in 21 points, while Chris Bosh added 16 in the victory.
The Heat were coming off a double-overtime loss to the Boston Celtics on Sunday and were facing a Nets team that had not lost at home since Christmas Day. But Brooklyn saw its eight-game home winning streak fall by the wayside in part because of 19 turnovers -- eight coming in the decisive third quarter.
"We're playing at a high level," James said."We showed tonight what we're capable of both offensively and defensively. We had the whole package tonight."
Brook Lopez and Joe Johnson scored 21 and 16 points, respectively, in defeat.
"We really let this one get away. We felt we were playing great through the third quarter, but they got a little run and that was it," Lopez said.
It was a tie game, 55-55, early in the third quarter before James hit a 3- pointer and Lopez countered with a hook shot.
The game changed dramatically during the next 3 1/2 minutes as the Heat scored on seven straight possessions en route to a 15-0 run. James highlighted the spurt with an alley-oop dunk off a feed from Wade, and the quarter ended with Ray Allen hitting from long range just before the buzzer.
Miami wound up shooting 15-of-23 (65 percent) during the game-altering 12 minutes, and the margin never dipped below 17 points in the fourth.
The Heat made all five of their 3-point attempts in the first quarter and led by as many as 12 in the opening half after Rashard Lewis buried another one from behind the arc for a 34-22 lead early in the second.
But the Nets took over inside, with Andray Blatche spearheading a frontcourt that outscored Miami, 22-6, in the paint during the second stanza. Deron Williams' late jumper tied things at 49-49 heading to halftime.
Game Notes
The Heat earned a season sweep of the Nets for the fourth consecutive season ... Miami improved to 17-2 when shooting at least 50 percent from the field ... The Heat had 20 fastbreak points to Brooklyn's four ... The Nets were trying to tie a franchise record for most wins in a month (12).
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