Kyrie Irving held to 17 points, Spencer Dinwiddie gets 11, and Caris LeVert scores just six points; but rookie Nicolas Claxton shows promise with 14 points

Last night at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, the 18-22 Brooklyn Nets met up with the 37-6 Milwaukee Bucks, a team that is clearly on a mission to represent the NBA Eastern Conference in the 2020 NBA Finals and it wasn’t pretty. The Nets fell to 18-23 with their 117-97 loss to the Bucks last night, while the Bucks improved to 38-6 on the season with the victory.

How the Milwaukee Bucks beat the Brooklyn Nets by the numbers:

In terms of metrics, the Brooklyn Nets shined at the free-throw line. Brooklyn shot a season-high-tying .941 (16-of-17) from the free-throw line, which was previously done against the Phoenix Suns on November 10, 2019, at Phoenix (also 16-of-17 FT). The Nets also edged Milwaukee 18-13 in fast breakpoints.

However, Milwaukee shot .500 (45-of-90 FG) from the field last night compared to Brooklyn’s .333 (33 of 99 FG) from the field. From behind the arc, the Bucks outpaced the Nets 45.9 percent (17-of-37) to 30.6 percent (15-of-49), and of course, the Bucks’ 117 points overall to the Nets’ 97 points sealed the winning deal.

Milwaukee Bucks Leading Scorers

Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo registered a game-high 29 points, 12 rebounds, along with four assists in 25 minutes. Khris Middleton added 20 points, four assists, four rebounds, and three steals in 29 minutes; Brook Lopez scored 12 points, seven rebounds, five blocked shots, and four assists in 26 minutes; Wesley Matthews accumulated 11 points and three assists in 27 minutes; Donte DiVincenzo came off the bench and also posted 11 points, with sides of six rebounds and two steals in 26 minutes, and; Kyle Korver chipped in 10 points in 17 minutes off the bench.

Coach Speak: Milwaukee Bucks head coach Mike Budenholzer on the Bucks’ defense

“Brooklyn is a team that drives it a ton, like everybody in the league, a lot of pick-and-rolls too,” said Milwaukee Bucks head coach Mike Budenholzer. “I thought the discipline in just getting over screens, playing without fouling, making them uncomfortable, making them hopefully get to spots that they don’t want to be in. Brook Lopez is always good in the paint. Giannis (Antetokounmpo) was good in the paint.”

Coach Speak: Brooklyn Nets head coach Kenny Atkinson on what was the most difficult part about playing the Milwaukee Bucks

“I thought our defense was actually decent,” responded Brooklyn Nets head coach Kenny Atkinson. “I’m not saying it was great or outstanding. I thought we fought defensively and offensively, obviously didn’t make shots. They’re the number one rim protection team in the league and I don’t know – I feel like, yes, we attacked the rim, but we also have to figure out how – against a great rim protecting team – maybe just make that extra pass, those extra two passes. I thought they were going against a wall, especially in the first half. I thought the second half we moved it a little better. I thought there were a ton of open threes. We knew we were going to get the threes, it didn’t go down, that makes it look worse. But credit to Milwaukee. I think they are playing as good as anybody I’ve seen in a while in this league. So just have to give them credit, give Bud (Mike Budenholzer) credit. They’re playing great basketball.”

Brooklyn Nets Scoring Leaders

Kyrie Irving led the Nets with 17 points, six rebounds, six assists, and a season-high four steals in 31 minutes. Brooklyn Nets rookie player, Nicolas Claxton, a member of the Nets second unit, scored a career-high 14 points (on a career-high 7-of-12 FG) with a career-high-tying six rebounds, and a career-high-tying three blocks in a career-high 19 minutes; Taurean Prince recorded 13 points in 24 minutes; Spencer Dinwiddie, who had been carrying the Brooklyn Nets in point-scoring during Kyrie Irving’s absence, registered 11 points, three rebounds, and three assists in 27 minutes, and; Timothé Luwawu-Cabarrot chipped in 10 points and four rebounds in 20 minutes off the bench.

Nets rookie Nicolas Claxton, who came off the bench against Milwaukee last night, told the media what kind of feedback he is receiving from Kenny Atkinson, Brooklyn Nets general manager Sean Marks, and the Brooklyn Nets coaching staff.

“They all have been giving me great feedback,” said Claxton. “In Long Island, I’ve been solid, and that’s what they want, especially from a young guy like me who they’re really trying to develop. So, I’m just doing the best that I can with that.”

What’s Next for the Milwaukee Bucks and the Brooklyn Nets?

The Milwaukee Bucks will return home to Milwaukee to host the Chicago Bulls on Monday, January 20, 2020, at 4:00 p.m. CT.

Meanwhile, the Brooklyn Nets will host the Philadelphia 76ers at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn also on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Monday, January 20, 2020, at 3:00 p.m. ET.

TIP-INS:

Taurean Prince’s second 3-pointer made last night against the Milwaukee Bucks was his 100th of the season, moving him past Joe Harris (99 threes) for the team lead. He now has made 101 threes on the season.

Kyrie Irving’s 32 points were not enough for the Brooklyn Nets to overtake the Utah Jazz

Kyrie Irving was back in the Brooklyn Nets lineup for his second game after a shoulder injury sidelined the star for 26 games, and from the thumping the Brooklyn Nets took from the Utah Jazz last night, it’s official, Irving is not a savior for this team. The Nets lost to the Jazz 118-107, and thus, fell to 18-21 on the season with the loss, meanwhile the Jazz improved to 28-12 on the season with the victory.

How the Utah Jazz beat the Brooklyn Nets by the numbers:

Brooklyn shot .500 (45-of-90 FG) from the field last night, shooting .500 or better in a game for the fourth time this season and for the first time in a loss. However, Utah also shot .500 on 46-of-92 FG shooting. Utah also went further, it shot 36.1 percent (13-of-36) from behind the arc versus Brooklyn’s 30.8 percent (8-of-26), and it also punished the Nets on the free throw line 86.7 percent versus 60 percent.

Brooklyn Nets head coach Kenny Atkinson on the aspects of the game where the Utah Jazz caused problems for his team

“First of all, just give them credit,” said Brooklyn Nets head coach Kenny Atkinson about the Utah Jazz. “What you saw tonight backs up their stellar play recently. They’ve been the number one offense over 15, 20 games and we could never find a way to stop them. Just that simple. Transition defense, pick-and-roll defense, rebounding, physicality, all of this stuff, I think they just dominated. We’ve been really good defensively for the last couple of months, over a long period of time, and tonight we just weren’t. We never found a solution to stop them. I do want to look big picture and understand that we have been defending well lately. But they were just too strong tonight – made shots, screened us, great job by the Utah Jazz.”

Brooklyn Nets guard Kyrie Irving pretty much co-signed on Coach Atkinson’s assessment of last night’s game against the Utah Jazz.

“I mean, when you look at them on film—I’ve watched a few of their games and there is a reason why they are 15-1 in their last 16 games, so we have to give them credit, said Kyrie Irving. “They finished off the first quarter, we gave up five points. We were up 26-25 then it was 30-26 to end the last four minutes and then the second quarter, you play against really good teams like that, they go on runs. We were down 13 going into halftime and we were just climbing uphill. And we’ve had a tendency to do that over our fair share of games and we just can’t get into that kind of position moving forward. But that’s a good team in that locker room. They’ve really played well together this season and they’re developing, so you give them credit. But also, we can correct some things on the defensive end. Switches, communication, being there to switch when we call out switches, just little things like that and we just have to keep developing that and we’ll be alright.”

The Brooklyn Nets’ Leading Scorers

Kyrie Irving led all scorers with 32 points, with a season-high 11 assists, five rebounds, and two steals in 32 minutes. Spencer Dinwiddie recorded 17 points, five assists, and four rebounds in 36 minutes; Joe Harris added 13 points (5-of-10 FG) in 34 minutes, and; Caris LeVert chipped in 11 points, and three assists in 26 minutes off the bench.

Utah Jazz Leading Scorers

John Ingles scored a team-high 27 points, four assists, and three rebounds for the Utah Jazz in 30 minutes; Donovan Mitchell recorded 25 points and four assists in 36 minutes; Rudy Gobert accumulated 22 points, 18 rebounds, four assists, and two blocked shots in 37 minutes; Bojan Bogdanovic, a former Nets player, registered 18 points in 32 minutes, and; Jordan Clarkson came off the bench to chip in 13 points and three rebounds in 26 minutes.

Coach Speak: Utah Jazz head coach Quin Snyder

“I think we’re getting contributions from a lot of guys,” said Utah Jazz head coach Quin Snyder on what he saw in last night’s game against the Brooklyn Nets. I thought Rudy Gobert was terrific. It was a dominant performance by him on both ends of the floor. Joe Ingles obviously playing with Rudy, even driving and making plays. You kind of go on Donovan Mitchell, especially late when we really needed to score. Brooklyn was scoring, and we had to answer, and Donovan made some big moves to the rim and finished. So, all the way down the line, and everyone is defending. It’s not going to be perfect every possession, but the guys are really committed to defending together.”

At 6:20 in the third quarter, the Utah Jazz led the Brooklyn Nets by as much as 20 points and ended the third quarter up by 14 points at 88-74. In the fourth quarter at 6:48, the Nets got as close as eight points (99-91) on a Kyrie Irving five-foot pull-up jump shot, which pulled Nets fans in closer with the notion that the Nets just might be able to turn things around. However, it wasn’t to be as the Jazz had answers at every turn.

“I thought Brooklyn was playing well,” responded Jazz coach Quin Snyder to a question about the Nets cutting the lead down to eight in the fourth quarter. “They were scoring, whether it was (Spencer) Dinwiddie or Kyrie (Irving). They came up with a couple of loose balls, and I thought we answered offensively when we needed to. Sometimes you’re just against a good team and you’re not going to get every stop. You have to respond, and I think we continued to defend and got some big ones when we needed.”

Brooklyn Nets head coach Kenny Atkinson on catching a team like the Utah Jazz, “I would say right now they are far ahead of us; we’ve got a long way to go to catch a team like that.”

What’s Next for the Utah Jazz and the Brooklyn Nets?

 The Utah Jazz will travel to New Orleans with its sights on getting a win against the New Orleans Pelicans on Thursday, January 16, 2020, at 7:00 p.m. CT.

The Brooklyn Nets traveled to Philadelphia last night to be ready to play the Philadelphia 76ers tonight, January 15, at 7:00 p.m. ET. The Nets will return to Brooklyn, NY to play the Milwaukee Bucks on Saturday, January 18, 2020, at the Barclays Center at 6:00 p.m. and you may want to arrive early to cop a Spencer Dinwiddie bobblehead doll.

Spencer Dinwiddie led the Brooklyn Nets in scoring with 26 points; Rodions Kurucs led the charge early and ended the game with 19 points for Brooklyn

The Brooklyn Nets’ downward slide has ended, at least for the moment. The Nets can now add a check in the win column with its 117-113 win over the Miami Heat last night. With the win over Miami, the Nets have snapped its seven-game losing streak and improved to 17-20, while the Heat fell to 27-11 on the season with its loss against the Nets.

How The Brooklyn Nets beat the Miami Heat by the numbers:

Sometimes the higher percentage doesn’t always tell the story. As in this case, in field goal percentage, the Miami Heat bested the Brooklyn Nets 51.8 percent (44-of-85) versus 48.4 percent (45-of-93). Behind the arc, Brooklyn secured 15 three-point shots compared to Miami’s seven. The Heat cruised by the Nets at the free-throw line 18-12.
The Brooklyn Nets also dished out 31 assists in comparison to the Miami Heat’s 26, and on the boards, the Nets outrebounded the Heat 51-40, including a 14-4 (+10) edge on the offensive glass.

It wasn’t all doom and gloom for Miami, at the end of the first quarter, the Miami Heat led the Brooklyn Nets 42-32, and at the half, the Heat led the Nets 69-57. But, in the third stanza, the Nets evened the score, ending the third 89-89.

Coach Speak: Brooklyn Nets head coach Kenny Atkinson on his team’s attitude being down headed into the fourth quarter:

“I thought the whole game we had great energy, great effort,” Brooklyn Nets head coach Kenny Atkinson told the media postgame. “It just comes back to, the game will reward you when you play with that kind of grit and passion and energy. I thought that it was maybe one of the highest intensity games we’ve played all year. I think our backs were to the wall a little bit against an excellent team – real credit to the guys. I thought our defense was outstanding in that second half. Twenty points in the third and then 24 in the fourth and a lot of guys contributed. A lot of really good signs from our young players and guys off the bench.”

Speaking of young players coming off the bench, Caris LeVert exudes confidence in himself. When asked what hitting those two shots in the fourth quarter did for his confidence, LeVert responded: “My confidence never wavers, to be honest with you. Miss shots, make shots, it happens. I think I was like 1-for-7, so in my mind, next seven are going in, you know what I’m saying? So, it was good to see them go in, good to get the win. But like I said, it doesn’t really waver for me.”

Speaking of not wavering LeVert also shined a spotlight on the performance of another young Nets player who didn’t waver last night, Rodions Kurucs.

“Huge. He was huge for us. He started off the game huge – I think that gave us a big boost – and it forced them to wake up faster because Rodi hit three quick ones. We’ve been on him about shooting open three’s and I think he’s having great carryover from practice.”

The Brooklyn Nets’ Leading Scorers

Spencer Dinwiddie recorded his fifth double-double of the season tonight with 26 points and a career-high 14 assists to go along with four rebounds, two steals and a block in 35 minutes. Rodions Kurucs has found his way with his third start of the season, scoring a season-high 19 points with three rebounds in 23 minutes; Taurean Prince tallied 17 points with four rebounds, and four assists in 32 minutes; Jarrett Allen posted 11 points and 11 rebounds in 28 minutes, recording his team-high 17th double-double of the season; Caris LeVert, still working his way back from a thumb injury, registered 11 points, four assists, and three rebounds in 24 minutes off the bench, and; Timothé Luwawu-Cabarrot added 10 points and three boards off the bench.

DeAndre Jordan, not a point-scoring leader in this game, pulled down 10 rebounds with eight points in 20 minutes off the bench.

Miami Heat Scoring Leaders

Jimmy Butler led the way in scoring for the Miami Heat, leading all scorers with 33 points, nine rebounds, and two assists in 36 minutes. Bam Adebayo registered 22 points, seven assists, and six rebounds in 33 minutes; Goran Dragic posted 17 points and five assists in 29 minutes, and; Kendrick Nunn chipped in 10 points in 23 minutes.

Coach Speak: Miami Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra’s perspective on his team’s inability to get a win on the road against the Brooklyn Nets

“I’m going to keep it really short,” Miami Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra said to the media postgame. “Not a whole lot to say. The Brooklyn Nets deserved to win this game.
We got what we deserved. They came out and outcompeted us. Even when we were ahead and we were scoring the basketball, they were winning the physicality battles, clearly the rebounding, the loose balls and things of that nature. You just have to credit Brooklyn. We’re still searching for maturity on the road as a basketball team, and we didn’t take a step forward in that department tonight. We’re much better than that. It’s not an indictment on who we are as a basketball team. We’re a good basketball team. Our group knows that. This group has a great deal of confidence. I love that quality about our team because on the road it’s tough. It is tough leaguewide and we’re still developing this necessary maturity to be consistent on the road and we didn’t have that tonight.”

What’s Next for the Miami Heat and the Brooklyn Nets?

The Miami Heat will stay in town and head across the East River to play the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden on Sunday, January 12, 2020, at 3:30 p.m. ET.

Meanwhile, the Brooklyn Nets will stay at home and host the Atlanta Hawks at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn also on Sunday, January 12, 2020, but at 6:00 p.m. ET.

TIP-INS:

Spencer Dinwiddie became the first Net to reach 26 points, 14 assists, four boards, and just two turnovers in the same game since Sam Cassell on March 12, 1998, at Houston. Dinwiddie has scored 20+ points in 20 of his last 26 games and has scored 20+ points a single-season career-high 24 times (in 37 games).

DeAndre Jordan has posted 20 games of 10+ rebounds this season and has grabbed 10+ boards off the bench a league-leading 16 times this season.

Nets forward Taurean Prince leads Nets with 21 points in the loss, Caris LeVert posts 20 points in 22 minutes in 2nd outing since coming back from injury

And the losses keep coming!

Last night, the Brooklyn Nets met up with the Oklahoma City Thunder and the ending wasn’t pretty. The Nets stayed close to the Thunder during the first half, ending the half down one point at 49-48 and pulled ahead slightly in the third, 77-74. Unfortunately, the Nets couldn’t keep it together to stay ahead and allowed OKC to tie up the game-ending regulation with a score of 101-101. In overtime, only Joe Harris was able to hit a bucket for Brooklyn, scoring two points, while the Thunder added 10 points. Consequently, the Nets fell to 16-20 with the 111-103 loss to the OKC Thunder. Meanwhile, OKC improved to 21-16 on the season. Since December 1, 2019, the Nets have lost 11 of 17 games.

In just his second appearance since his thumb injury, Caris LeVert showed why reporters continued to ask about his return while he was out. LeVert added 20 points (7-of-16 FG) with six rebounds and three assists in 22 minutes off the bench for the Nets. LeVert looks like he’s on the road to be the scorer he was during the 2019 NBA Playoffs, as he is averaging 16.5 points, 3.0 rebounds, and 2.0 assists in 19.1 minutes per game in his two games since returning from right thumb surgery. So, given LeVert’s performance, it begged the question as to why he wasn’t on the floor in overtime.

Coach Speak: Kenny Atkinson on not putting Caris LeVert in the game during overtime

“It’s how we operate,” Brooklyn Nets head coach Kenny Atkinson said regarding keeping Caris LeVert out during overtime. “We knew there was an understanding of where he was. That’s how we work – thinking about long-term health and the long-term plan and sticking with that plan because it’s easy to say ‘hey, let’s win this game.’ I think you would regret it if something ever happened, so, I think it’s a plan that we stick with, we make it beforehand, and we stick with it.”

Brooklyn Nets Scoring Leaders

Taurean Prince, Brooklyn’s scoring leader last night, recorded his fifth 20-point game of the season. Prince scored a team-high 21 points (8-of-15 FG, 5-of-10 3FG) and eight rebounds for the Nets. Spencer Dinwiddie, who had been Brooklyn’s leading scorer while Kyrie Irving and Caris LeVert were both out with injuries, struggled with shooting early on, but accumulated 14 points, a game-high six assists, and five rebounds, in 36 minutes; Jarrett Allen posted 12 points, and; Garrett Temple chipped in 11 points and three rebounds. DeAndre Jordan, not a scoring leader, as he only scored eight points, led the way for the Nets on the boards with 10 rebounds to go along with his eight points in 20 minutes off the bench.

“We played some really good basketball, so that’s the shame about it,” continued Nets head coach Kenny Atkinson. “And again, the defense was pretty good, obviously Chris Paul hit some tough, big shots at the end of the game. But we scored, I think, two points in overtime. Our offense is just not where it needs to be. We’re just really struggling. A lot of good defensive performances the last 10 games and our offense is just struggling big time.”

“Yeah, having had six losses in a row prior to this, and having played well, it’s not a good feeling to drop a game we definitely could’ve won and had our chance to win,” Brooklyn Nets guard Spencer Dinwiddie said regarding how this loss in particular hurts.

“Yeah, definitely,” said Joe Harris regarding how the loss stung a bit more given the way the game unfolded. “I thought we played better tonight than we had the previous losses that we’ve had, especially when you feel like you have a good opportunity there at the end, a chance to win. It’s a credit to OKC – both of us coming off a back-to-back. And again, it’s just one of those situations where they made more plays in critical moments. Obviously, they’ve got a big-time player in Chris (Paul), where he’s able to kind of take over down the stretch, the fourth quarter and overtime.”

OKC guard Chris Paul, who was the oldest player on the floor, led his team and all scorers with 28 points, six rebounds, three assists, and two steals. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander knocked down 22 points and four rebounds; Dennis Schroder recorded 14 points, five rebounds, and four assists, and Steven Adams registered 10 points, 18 rebounds, and five assists.

Coach Speak: Oklahoma City Thunder Head Coach Billy Donovan

“The guys did a lot of really, really good things,” said Oklahoma City Thunder Head Coach Billy Donovan. “It was unfortunate we fought so hard; I think we were down by seven to get back in the game. The break that left the game open was (Spencer) Dinwiddie missing that free throw when we fouled before the ball was thrown in bounds on the side out-of-bounds play. But you know, from there I thought our guys battled and competed. I thought Terrance’s (Ferguson) defense in terms of him chasing Joe Harris around and just trying to get him off his spots because he’s such an elite shooter, was really something else. And then, obviously, Chris (Paul) coming down the stretch, helping us get the game to overtime with the way he was scoring. There was (were) a lot of different things that happened during the course of the game, where there was a lot of major contributions and a lot of guys chipped in. We struggled to score. We were probably a little bit tired, (a) little weary. We had some decent looks we couldn’t really get anything to go down. But we kind of stayed with it to your point, we defended and rebounded.”

What’s Next for the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Brooklyn Nets?

The Oklahoma City Thunder will return home to Oklahoma City to host the Houston Rockets on Thursday, January 9, 2020, at 8:30 p.m. CT.

The Brooklyn Nets will stay at home to host the Miami Heat at the Barclays Center on Friday, January 10, at 7:30 p.m. ET.

Spencer Dinwiddie leads all Nets players with 23 points in the loss; Caris LeVert returns to action for the first time since November 10 thumb injury

Squander is the word.

Squander is what the Brooklyn Nets did last night against the Toronto Raptors. Up by 16 points (52-36) at 3:38 in the second quarter, the Nets quickly allowed that cushion to disappear ending the second quarter up by four, 52-48. Brooklyn ended the third stanza underwater by three, 83-80, still within an opportunity to regain its footing to win, but the Nets had no answer for the Raptors’ sudden surge and never came above water ending the game down by 19 points, 121-102. With the loss, the Nets are now below .500 with a win-loss record of 16-18, meanwhile, the Raptors improved to 24-12.

The lone seemingly bright spot for the Brooklyn Nets was that the team blocked a season-high 11 shots and edged the Raptors 11-4 in blocks. It would have been a more meaningful metric if those blocks could have converted into points. The Nets’ .478 field goal percentage (32-of-67 FG) was higher than the Raptors’ .454 (44 of 97), but the Raptors shot more and completed more.

Coach Speak: Kenny Atkinson on if he notices a reoccurring theme in the second half of the last few games

“Fourth quarter, last four out of five games, we were right there, or led, or (were) close,” Brooklyn Nets head coach Kenny Atkinson responded. “That’s a theme. That’s a big theme right now. We have to figure out why. Fourth quarters have really been a thorn in our sides. It was again tonight. We competed for three-quarters of the game, a little bit more than three quarters. I think when we subbed the starters back in the game, it was a six- or seven-point game and then they kind of went on a run and I’ve kind of seen that film before recently, so we have to figure it out. We have to figure out why we’re running out of gas. Is it physical? Is it execution? It’s probably a combination of all of those things.”

Brooklyn Nets forward Joe Harris agrees.

“I think just looking at it, defensively, we’ve given up a lot of points in these fourth-quarter stretches – where it may be a lack of execution on one end or the other,” stated Joe Harris. “Tonight, was sort of cumulative; it kind of built up there in the third, where we gave up 35 points. In the fourth, we gave up 38, which is way too many. You’re not going to win a lot of games, especially finishing out games like that.”

Brooklyn Nets Scoring Leaders

Spencer Dinwiddie led the Nets with 23 points (6-of-12 FG, 9-of-12 FT), seven assists, three rebounds, and a block in 31 minutes. And, in case you haven’t been following Dinwiddie this season, his performance last night was not an anomaly. Dinwiddie has shown demonstrable improvement since last season. Dinwiddie has scored 20+ points in 19 of his last 23 games and has scored 20+ points a single-season career-high 23 times (in 34 games). He scored 20+ points 18 times all last season (68 games). Joe Harris scored 18 points with three rebounds, and five assists in 31 minutes, Harris has now scored in double figures 27 times this season; Caris LeVert returned to action from a thumb injury last night and recorded 13 points (5-of-7 FG, 2-of-2 3FG) in 16 minutes off the bench; Garrett Temple totaled 12 points, five rebounds, and three assists in 30 minutes, and; Taurean Prince chipped in 10 points and six boards in 28 minutes.

LeVert, who is on a minutes restriction, is clearly someone Nets’ fans can’t wait to see get more playing time, but patience is necessary, as even LeVert doesn’t know when his minutes' restriction will end.

“I’m not sure – I’m just out here to play – that’s for coach and the performance staff,” LeVert said in response to a question regarding the next step in overcoming his minute restrictions. “Whatever minutes I’m given, I’m just going to try to go out there and do what I can.”

Toronto Raptors Scoring Leaders

For Toronto, Fred VanVleet, who went undrafted in the 2016 NBA Draft and was later signed by Toronto, led all scorers with 29 points, 11 assists, and four rebounds. Kyle Lowry, the oldest player on the floor and 13 years full years in the NBA, scored 26 points, five assists, and four rebounds; Serge Ibaka recorded 21 points and 12 rebounds, and; Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, a former member of the Brooklyn Nets, chipped in 10 points, five rebounds, and four steals.

Coach Speak: Nick Nurse on Toronto Raptors’ defense after the first quarter

“I think from the four-minute mark of the second quarter onward we really got down to a plan,” said Toronto Raptors head coach Nick Nurse. “We were into the ball. We were making catches tough. Everything was pretty tough. When Brooklyn did take it to the rim, which they can do very well, we were better. We were better protecting. We were better cracking in on the “bigs” so there wasn’t that little dump off there as much. Just much more energy and toughness.”

What’s Next for the Toronto Raptors and the Brooklyn Nets?

The Toronto Raptors will return home to Toronto to host the Portland Trailblazers on Tuesday, January 7, 2020, at 7 p.m. ET.

The Brooklyn Nets will travel to Orlando to play the Orlando Magic on Monday, January 6, 2020, at 7 p.m. ET, and then will hurry home to host the Oklahoma City Thunder on Tuesday, January 7, 2020, at 7:30 p.m., at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.

Spencer Dinwiddie leads all Brooklyn Nets’ players in scoring and Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot was the only other Net to score in double digits

Yesterday, was the day after Christmas and most people in and around the Barclays Center were filled with good cheer. Of course, Brooklyn Nets fans were expecting the 16-13 Nets to be able to handle their business over the lowly 7-24 New York Knicks. But the Nets put up very little effort and someone forgot to tell the Knicks players that it was the day after Christmas, and it would be okay if they slacked off. So, instead of a Nets win, the Knicks pulled off an embarrassing upset.

How The Nets Lost By The Numbers

The Nets shot 26.9 percent from the field (21 of 78) versus the Knicks’ 40.2 percent (37 of 92). From behind the arc, the Nets hit 13 of 50 (26 percent) buckets and the Knicks weren’t much better at 9 of 29 (31 percent), but they didn’t have to be. From the line, the Nets made 27 of its 36 free-throws versus the Knicks’ 11 of 15. The Knicks also outrebounded the Nets 60-50.

Looking at how the points were distributed among the players, New York boasted four players scoring in double digits to the Nets’ two.

For the Knicks, Julius Randle led all scorers with 33 points and eight rebounds; Marcus Morris, Sr. posted 22 points and eight rebounds; Elfrid Payton contributed 13 points, seven rebounds, and four assists, and; Mitchell Robinson registered a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds.

Meanwhile, only Spencer Dinwiddie and Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot scored in double digits for the Nets. Dinwiddie scored 25 points, eight rebounds, and three assists, while Luwawu-Cabarrot made the scoring leader cut with 10 points.

So, what the hell happened? How does one explain the Nets’ poor performance against the New York Knicks?

“For us, we held them under 100 points, which was the target,” Dinwiddie explained. “We also shot 27 percent from the field. Let’s go with too much eggnog. I don’t know what else to tell you.”

Perhaps, Brooklyn Nets head coach Kenny Atkinson can shed more light on his team’s disappointing loss.

Coach Speak: Kenny Atkinson on his team losing to the New York Knicks

“They just outplayed us, plain and simple,” Coach Atkinson explained. “You could sit there and write or talk about missed shots – and we missed a lot of open shots – I don’t buy that. Give them credit, they were just simply the better team. Take the missed shots out. They were excellent defensively at the rim. They obviously guarded the 3- point line well enough for us to miss a ton of threes. I thought our defense, besides the third quarter, our defense was good. This is one of those nights where you just have to give the other team credit.”

And the Knicks didn’t waste any time taking credit and who could fault them for claiming a win they rightly deserved.

Coach Speak: Mike Miller on how the New York Knicks were able to defeat the Brooklyn Nets

“I like the start,” said New York Knicks head coach Mike Miller. “I thought our guys played with great energy. I thought we really had a great focus. Brooklyn is a very good offensive team. They probably felt like they missed some open looks and opportunities, but I really felt like we did a good job with how we started just making them go through us to make some plays. I think that really helped us in the beginning. It got us off to a great start. I love the effort that we played with and how connected we were tonight.”

“Games are so different,” Coach Miller continued as he reflected on the Knicks’ 121-115 loss to the Washington Wizards on Monday night. “Game to game things can be different. The game on Monday we got off to a great start, we just didn’t sustain it. So tonight, I was really pleased because we played a very good offensive team and they hit you so many different ways. As you go in when you play a team that good you have to try to slow them down somehow.”

What’s Next for the New York Knicks and the Brooklyn Nets?

The New York Knicks head to Washington to take on the Washington Wizards on Saturday, December 28, 2019, at 8 p.m. ET.

Meanwhile, the Brooklyn Nets begin a three-game road trip at Houston, also on tomorrow, Saturday, December 28, 2019, at 8 p.m. ET, then it’s on to Minnesota to play the Timberwolves on Monday, December 30, 2019, at 8:00 ET; Thursday, January 2, 2020, they travel to Dallas to meet up with the Dallas Mavericks at 8:30 p.m., before facing the reigning NBA champions, the Toronto Raptors, at the Barclays Center on Saturday, January 4, 2020.

Hold the eggnog!

Spencer Dinwiddie, who should be an NBA All-Star candidate this season, led all scorers with 24 points; Wilson Chandler makes his debut for Brooklyn Nets

In their first meeting since the 2019 NBA First Round Playoffs, the Brooklyn Nets and the Philadelphia 76ers squared off at the Barclays Center yesterday evening, and; the Nets recaptured its magic and stopped its two-game losing streak by defeating a Joel Embiid-less 76ers, 109-89. In defeating the Sixers, the Nets improved to 14-12, while the 76ers fell to 20-8 on the season with their loss. Also, the Nets’ 20-point victory over the 76ers marked the team’s largest victory margin of the season, the previous high of 19-points was against the Sacrament Kings on November 22nd. Brooklyn led by as many as 26 points last night, which marked the Nets’ biggest lead in any game this season. The previous biggest lead was 22 points vs. Sacramento on November 22, 2019. Additionally, the Sixers’ 89 points last night marked the fewest allowed by the Nets in a game this season; the previous low was Charlotte’s 91 points on November 20, 2019.

How The Nets Beat the 76ers By the Numbers:

Last night, the Brooklyn Nets spaced Philadelphia 64-54 in points in the paint, posting 40 points in the paint in the first half, which was just two points shy of matching the Nets' largest points in the paint output in any half this season.

The Nets slid past the Sixers in fast break points, overwhelming the 76ers 23-8.

Rebounding? No problem. Brooklyn outrebounded Philadelphia 52-38. The Nets rebounding efforts are off to a good start; entering last night’s game, the Nets ranked fourth in the NBA with 47.9 rebounds per game.

Going into the final quarter, the Nets led the Sixers 83-66, giving the team something to talk about at least for a day. The 66 points marked the fewest points Brooklyn surrendered through three quarters this season, and the Nets’ 17-point advantage marked the Nets' biggest through three quarters this season. Not too shabby.

Taking a step back, Brooklyn also led Philadelphia 57-43 at the half on Sunday night. Philly’s 43 points marked the fewest Brooklyn has allowed in a first half this season, and the 14-point lead marked the Nets' third-largest halftime lead of the season.

All of these metrics were a good sign for the Brooklyn Nets’ ability to bounce back, as the team was coming off of a 110-102 road loss to the Toronto Raptors the night before. Had Joel Embiid been in the lineup for the Philadelphia 76ers, in all likelihood he would have affected the point-spread and the 76ers rebounding count, but the way the Nets played yesterday, in all likelihood, they would have still won this game.

Coach Speak: Kenny Atkinson on Bouncing Back from Losing to the Toronto Raptors The Night Before

“I felt it in our little walkthrough,” said Brooklyn Nets head coach Kenny Atkinson. “I don’t think any of us were very pleased with our performance last night. Sometimes you just feel a tension. I felt like they were ready. One of our best defensive performances since I’ve been here. Collective – first group, second group – they’re a good offensive team, really top 10 in offensive efficiency, so, just excellent, excellent defensive effort.”

Coach Atkinson has been preaching defense to his players since he arrived in Brooklyn. He is a firm believer that good defense wins games and points it out every time his team misses the opportunity to turn up the defensive effort, particularly rebounding.

“Yeah, rebounding was one,” Atkinson said as he continued talking about the intangibles that come with a good defensive effort. “We’ve had problems with this team (Philadelphia) in the past in making them miss and not being able to corral a rebound. I thought rebounding was huge. Our general activity was good. I thought Wilson (Chandler) helped us. He helped by just having that big physical body of his. He guarded Ben (Simmons) in there for a while when TP (Taurean Prince) got in foul trouble. I thought that was a big stretch and (David) Nwaba gave us good minutes again defensively. But DeAndre (Jordan) I thought was really good, especially in the second half. But again, (an) excellent effort. I thought we shared the ball on offense, did a good job.”

Brooklyn Leading Scorers

Spencer Dinwiddie, who should be an NBA All-Star candidate this season, led all scorers with 24 points and a game-high six assists in 30 minutes. Dinwiddie, who has been starting since both Kyrie Irving and Caris LeVert have been out with medical issues, is on a roll. Dinwiddie has recorded 20-plus points in four straight games, seven of his last eight games and 13 of his last 15 games (all starts). Dinwiddie has scored 20-plus points 17 times this season after doing so 18 times all of last season.

Joe Harris tallied 16 points (7-of-11 FG, 2-of-4 3FG) in 25 minutes; Garrett Temple recorded 13 points, and four assists in 29 minutes, and; DeAndre Jordan posted a double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds in 22 minutes off the bench.

“Every game is different,” Spencer Dinwiddie responded to a reporter’s question regarding what was working defensively and how they can carry it over to their upcoming games. “I think the coaches did a great game plan for Philly. Obviously, their dynamics change when Joel Embiid is not on the floor, so you try to make them take tough twos. You focus in on Tobias (Harris), he’s their primary scorer. Obviously, Ben (Simmons) is a phenomenal playmaker, but you try to get under the screens, make his looks at the rim tough and then Al (Horford) likes to pop and shoot twos, and, you kind of (have to) live with some of those. That was kind of, I guess, the rough game plan.”

Philadelphia 76ers Leading Scorers

For the Philadelphia 76ers, Ben Simmons led his squad with 20 points, five rebounds, and three assists; Tobias Harris scored 17 points, six rebounds, and three assists; Josh Richardson contributed 11 points and four rebounds, and Al Horford chipped in 10 points, nine rebounds, and five assists.

Coach Speak: Brett Brown on Key Elements That Hurt the Philadelphia 76ers

“It’s just that the defensive side of things let us down,” responded Philadelphia 76ers head coach Brett Brown regarding his team’s loss to the Brooklyn Nets. “I think the statistical facts of what we shot from three and what we shot from the free-throw line shows our starting group had a rough night putting the ball in the hole and the accumulation of a few things equal a long night.”

What’s Next for the Philadelphia 76ers and the Brooklyn Nets?

The Philadelphia 76ers will return home to host the Miami Heat on Wednesday, December 18, 2019, at 7 p.m. ET.

Meanwhile, the Brooklyn Nets will travel to New Orleans to play the Pelicans on Tuesday, December 17, at 8 p.m. ET, and then on to San Antonio to play the Spurs on Thursday, December 19, 2019, at 8:30 p.m. The Nets will then return home to the Barclays Center in Brooklyn to host the Atlanta Hawks on Saturday, December 21, 2019, at 6:00 p.m.

TIP-INS

Entering Sunday night’s game, DeAndre Jordan led the NBA in rebounds per game off the bench (9.1 in 19 games as a reserve).

Wilson Chandler made his Nets debut last night and totaled two points, seven rebounds, two assists, a steal and a block in 19 minutes.

Timothé Luwawu-Cabarrot posted a season-high eight points with a season-high five rebounds in a season-high 23 minutes off the bench last night against the 76ers.

Nets slow to react to the Hornets zone defense in second-half, allow Charlotte’s Devonte’ Graham to score 27 points in the second stanza, and 40 overall

The Brooklyn Nets fell to 13-11 with their loss to the Charlotte Hornets on Wednesday night, while the Hornets improved to 11-16 on the season with their victory.

How the Brooklyn Nets Lost by the Numbers

The Nets outrebounded the Hornets 52-47 on Wednesday night, including a 17-15 edge on the offensive glass. Brooklyn’s 17 offensive rebounds marked their third-most offensive boards in a game this season. Brooklyn also edged Charlotte 52-36 (+16) in points in the paint.

At 7:44 in the second quarter, Brooklyn led by 20 points, with a score of 52-32.

But, Charlotte Hornets guard Devonte’ Graham said, not so fast. Graham, who just started his second year in the NBA, torched the Nets with his 27-point burst of scoring in the second half, and 40 points overall along with five rebounds and five assists.

So, what was the difference for Graham on Wednesday night?

“Just knocking down shots,” Devonte’ Graham responded. “Getting to the free-throw line. I think as a team, collectively, we were locked in knowing that we were under-manned and a couple (of) guys were out and everybody just had to step up and bring energy. In the second half, I felt we played a lot tougher and a lot more physical.”

Coach Speak: James Borrego on DeVonte' Graham and his Team

Can the Hornets resiliency be attributed to Devonte’ Graham?

“I think resiliency manifests itself in different ways, and I think you could be led by your top guy or one of your top guys for sure,” replied Charlotte Hornets head coach James Borrego. “I think in general this group has been resilient one through 15. They keep battling. We’ve been down throughout the season and we just keep fighting, keep clawing. We find a rhythm and a rotation out there that works, and we did tonight (Wednesday night). But you gotta give Devonte’ (Graham) a big piece of that. What he’s doing right now is special, and he deserves a lot of credit.”

Coach Speak: Kenny Atkinson on Why the Brooklyn Nets Just Didn’t Have it?

“For some reason, we just weren’t in sync tonight (Wednesday),” explained Brooklyn Nets head coach Kenny Atkinson. “We were just talking about it. It’s hard to figure out. We had two days in between, it wasn’t that we had been playing every other day, we had two days in between. I thought we were going to be a little fresher—physically a little better. But like I said, we got lulled into thinking it was going to be an easy game, psychologically, and it’s just not that way in the NBA. They have too many shooters, too many scorers. But they completely deserved the game. I thought they outplayed us. It’s hard to argue anything else.”

So, did the Nets’ players think it was going to be an easy night, which affected the team’s energy?

“I think so,” said Brooklyn Nets center Jarrett Allen. “In the NBA, if you get a team twice like we did, you think it’s gonna be an easy night. At the end of the day, it’s the NBA and every team comes out to play to win.”

Brooklyn Nets guard Spencer Dinwiddie sees it a bit differently. He thinks the team may not have been ready for the Hornets switch to a zone defense in the second half.

“We definitely got stagnant after they went to (a) zone which is pretty surprising with the caliber of shooters that we have on the team,” explained Brooklyn Nets guard Spencer Dinwiddie. “We just have to make quicker decisions as a unit to get those guys shots. When you have guys like Joe (Harris), (Garrett Temple), and Taurean Prince on the floor, we’ve got to get those guys shots. They’re phenomenal shooters. Nobody should be able to zone us, especially in our own house. We should be able to shoot them out of the thing. We just have to do a better job collectively.”

Brooklyn Nets Scoring Leaders

Spencer Dinwiddie scored a team-high 24 points (including 17 second-half points) with five rebounds and six assists in 33 minutes. Jarrett Allen posted 21 points and 10 rebounds, extending his career-best streak of games with at least 10 rebounds to nine consecutive games last night against Charlotte; Theo Pinson tallied a season-high 12 points (5-of-9 FG, 2-of-4 3FG) with three rebounds, and his first-career block in 15 minutes off the bench, and; Garrett Temple chipped in 11 points and four assists in 32 minutes.

DeAndre Jordan wasn’t a point-scoring leader, but he pulled down a game-high 14 rebounds with nine points in 22 minutes off the bench. Jordan has posted 11 games of double-digit rebounds for Brooklyn this season.

Charlotte Hornets Scoring Leaders

In addition to Devonte Graham’s 40-point night, Miles Bridges added 14 points and four rebounds; P.J. Washington and Terry Rozier each contributed 13 points, Washington funded six rebounds, while Rozier added seven rebounds and four assists to his point score; Michael Kidd-Gilchrist supplied 11 points and seven rebounds, off the bench, and; Cody Zeller chipped in 10 points and six rebounds, also off the bench.

What’s Next for the Charlotte Hornets and the Brooklyn Nets?

Up next for the Charlotte Hornets are the Chicago Bulls in Chicago on Friday, December 13, 2019, at 8:00 p.m. ET.

The Brooklyn Nets will travel to Toronto to play the Raptors on Saturday, December 14, at 7:30 p.m. ET, and then turnaround and head home to play the Philadelphia 76ers at the Barclays Center the very next day on Sunday, December 15, 2019, at 6:00 p.m.

After the Nets’ loss to the Charlotte Hornets, will the Toronto Raptors and the Philadelphia 76ers have the Nets’ full attention?

“Yes, it’s a wakeup call,” responded Jarrett Allen. “After we lose a game like this, credit to them still, but once we lose a game like this, we’re going to have to prepare extra hard for the next game. We’ll look at our mistakes and improve on them.”

TIP-IN:

Joe Harris hit his 485th 3-pointer as a Net tonight, moving him into a tie with Deron Williams for fifth place in franchise history. Harris also recorded nine points, six rebounds, and two assists in 29 minutes against the Charlotte Hornets.

Spencer Dinwiddie hits the go-ahead layup and Taurean Prince hits two closing-seconds free throws to seal a 105-102 win over the Nuggets

It came down to the wire, but the Brooklyn Nets defeated the Denver Nuggets 105-102. The Nets improved to 13-10 with the victory over Denver. Still, with no Kyrie Irving, the Nets have won three straight, eight of 10 and nine of its last 12 games.

Coach Speak: Kenny Atkinson on Brooklyn Nets Defense

“Big stops at the end,” Brooklyn Nets head coach Kenny Atkinson said about his team’s defense. “Big stops. I thought our rebounding – they really hurt us the first game (in November) with their offensive rebounding. So not only the stops, but getting those rebounds, especially at the end of the game. I thought Taurean (Prince) was a big part of that. When he gets 11 or 12 rebounds, whatever he got tonight, that really helps us. But we are improving defensively. Offense wasn’t great. When you win a game where we make seven 3’s, that’s good news. I will defend our offense a little. We got to the rim a ton. We really attacked the rim well tonight.”

How the Brooklyn Nets won by the Numbers

The Nets recorded a commanding 66-22 (+44) advantage in points in the paint. The 22 points in the paint were the fewest in a game for a Nets opponent this season.

The Nets registered a 48-36 (+12) edge on the glass, including a 10-6 edge on the offensive boards.

The Nets shot 7-of-28 from distance. The seven 3-pointers marked the second-fewest for the Nets in a victory since Kenny Atkinson became the team’s head coach (2016-17).

Brooklyn Nets Scoring Leaders

Scoring 20+ points in 10 of his last 12 games (all starts), Brooklyn Nets guard, Spencer Dinwiddie, notched team-highs for points (24) and assists (eight) in a team-high 34 minutes. Joe Harris tallied 13 points, four boards, and three assists in 31 minutes;
Jarrett Allen recorded his team-high 12th double-double of the season with 19 points and a team-high-tying 11 rebounds in 30 minutes while extending his career-best streak of games with at least 10 rebounds to eight, and; Garrett Temple contributed 15 points (10 in the first quarter), six boards, and three assists in 34 minutes. Temple has scored in double figures in eight of his last 12 games after doing so three times in his first 11 games this season.

Taurean Prince didn’t score in double digits scoring only nine points, but he sank two clutch free throws to extend Brooklyn’s lead from 103-102 to 105-102. Prince also registered a team-high-tying 11 rebounds along with Jarrett Allen. This is Prince’s fifth double-digit rebound game of the season.

Is this a statement win for the Brooklyn Nets, defeating a top-four team in the Western Conference? At least one player would agree that it was.

“I think it is, they are a great offensive team, even on defense,” responded Nets center Jarrett Allen. “We still have to come out and play hard, so I think this is a good step in the right direction.”

Postgame, Denver Nuggets head coach Mike Malone was trying to process what occurred for Brooklyn to get 66 points in the paint compared to the Nuggets 22 points.

Coach Speak: Mike Malone on Denver Nuggets

“They drove the ball and they got by our guys,” lamented Denver Nuggets head coach Mike Malone. “Same thing that happened in the Boston game. One-on-one containment. Some of it was pick-and-roll. We adjusted our coverage because of their 3-point shooting. That allowed their guards to get downhill and we had little presence at the rim. Like I said, it just seemed like all night long it was easy layup after easy layup. That makes it really hard. We had a chance even in light of that. Tough loss.”

Denver Nuggets Scoring Leaders

Nikola Jokic led the Denver Nuggets with 24 points, 11 rebounds, and six assists. Jamal Murray scored 21 points, five assists, and three rebounds, and; Jerami Grant chipped in 15 points.

What's Next for the Denver Nuggets and the Brooklyn Nets?

The Nuggets will play the Philadelphia 76ers during the fourth and final game of their road trip at Philadelphia, tomorrow, Tuesday, December 10, 2019, at 8:00 p.m.

Meanwhile, the Brooklyn Nets will be at home at the Barclays Center on Wednesday, December 11, 2019, to host the Charlotte Hornets at 7:30 p.m.

TIP-INS:

Brooklyn Nets forward, Joe Harris, has now knocked down 484 threes as a Net, just one 3-pointer shy of moving into a tie with Deron Williams (485 3-pointers) for fifth on the Nets’ all-time 3-pointers made list.

Jarrett Allen has posted nine double-doubles in his last 11 games, including seven in his last eight contests.

Spencer Dinwiddie leads all players with 29 points in a loss against the Miami Heat

The Brooklyn Nets put up a great fight against the Miami Heat last night; starting the final quarter down by two points at 83-81 and then building a seven-point lead twice at 4:07 and then again 1:45, only to fall to the Heat 109-106. The Nets fell to 10-10 the loss, while the Heat improved to 14-5 with the victory.

The Brooklyn Nets By the Numbers

Brooklyn shot 44.0 percent (40-of-91 FG) from the field while limiting Miami to 38.9 percent shooting (37-of-95 FG). The Nets have now held opponents under 40.0 percent shooting in three games this season.

The Nets edged the Heat 24-16 in assists yesterday, led by Garrett Temple (five assists), Taurean Prince (five assists), and Spencer Dinwiddie (four assists).

Brooklyn led Miami 65-58 at halftime before being outscored 51-41 by the Heat in the second half. The Nets have done well with holding the lead at halftime this season. They have held a lead at halftime in 15 of their 20 games this season, including eight of 10 home contests.

The Closing Seconds

With just under 30 seconds in regulation, the Nets were leading by one, 106-105. Dinwiddie fouls Jimmy Butler and then Butler hits both free throws giving the Heat a one-point lead, 107-106. Dinwiddie gets possession of the ball misses a driving layup; Miami’s forward Justise Winslow gets the ball, Dinwiddie fouls him, Winslow knocks down his free throws and now Miami is up 109-106 with 11.3 seconds on the clock. With two seconds left on the clock, Dinwiddie goes for a 28-foot three-pointer and misses, and the Heat leaves the Barclays Center with a 109-106 win.

Coach Speak: Kenny Atkinson on how the Brooklyn Nets Lost

Brooklyn Nets head coach Kenny Atkinson believes his team missed several opportunities down the stretch to defeat the Miami Heat yesterday.

“We had opportunities, tons of opportunities, Coach Atkinson told the media postgame. They made plays, we didn’t. Just one of those see-saw games. Like I said, we had our opportunities.”

Coach Atkinson also didn’t like his team’s final possession.

“No, and they did a good job,” Atkinson responded to a reporter’s question about if he liked the final possession.

The answer was evident considering the Nets didn’t win, but in the rush of asking questions, many times the question gets asked in a way that the reporter didn't intend.

“We were obviously trying to get a switch and a weakness defender,” Atkinson continued. “I thought they had (a) good strategy to kind of deter that. It always comes down to do you want to search the mismatch, or do you want to keep the ball moving and stay within your offense. I thought we were seeking a mismatch – got it sometimes, sometimes we didn’t. I thought they did a good job trying to stay out of that mismatch. It was obvious who we were going at, and then when we did get Bam (Adebayo) out there at the 3-point line guarding Spencer (Dinwiddie), Spencer got downhill, we missed. Kind of that simple.”

Coach Speak: Erik Spoelstra on how critical the last two stops were for the Miami Heat

“We’ve been talking about it for 48 hours that we need to take a stand, particularly on the road,” said Miami Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra. “We find a game where we have to grind, even if it’s ugly, to show the mental toughness. Brooklyn is a tough team. They’re playing well. They had some momentum in the fourth quarter when Joe Harris hit those three’s and some triggers that forced us to overreact. That’s who Brooklyn is, they move you. We really had to step up and make two big-time stops and then Jimmy Butler was able to draw some fouls and that extended the game and gave us more life.”

“I think we played pretty well,” responded Brooklyn Nets forward Joe Harris. “It was obviously a competitive game from the start. Just, (at) the end of the game, a few possessions kind of got away from us. We just didn’t do as good as a job as they did to execute down the stretch.”

Brooklyn Nets Scoring Leaders

Spencer Dinwiddie led the Nets with a game-high 29 points (10-of-21 FG, 4-of-9 3FG, 5-of-5 FT) with six rebounds, four assists and a steal in 34 minutes. Joe Harris scored a season-high 25 points (eclipsing his previous season-high of 22 points, done twice previously) while shooting 9-of-16 from the field and 5-of-9 from distance; DeAndre Jordan tallied 15 points, eight rebounds, two assists, and a steal in 24 minutes off the bench, and; David Nwaba chipped in a season-high-tying 10 points in 18 minutes off the bench.

Although Jarrett Allen and Taurean Prince did not score more than 10 points, they both made some noise on the boards for the Brooklyn Nets. Allen pulled down a team-high 12 rebounds, while Prince tallied seven rebounds.

Miami Heat Scoring Leaders

Goran Dragic lifted the Miami Heat with a team-high 24 points, while adding six assists; Jimmy Butler scored 20 points and seven rebounds; Bam Adebayo registered 17 points and 16 rebounds; Kendrick Nunn recorded 11 points and three assists; Duncan Robinson added 10 points and 10 rebounds, and; Justise Winslow also chipped in 10 points, five rebounds, and three assists off the bench.

What's Next for the Miami Heat and the Brooklyn Nets?

The Miami Heat will travel to Toronto to face the Toronto Raptors on Tuesday, December 3, 2019, at 7:30 p.m. ET.

The Brooklyn Nets will be on the road for the next two games, traveling to Atlanta to play the Atlanta Hawks on Wednesday, December 4, 2019, at 7:30 p.m. ET, then on to Charlotte to play the Charlotte Hornets on Friday, December 6, 2019, at 7:00 p.m. ET. The Brooklyn Nets will then travel home to play the Denver Nuggets at the Barclays Center on Sunday, December 8, 2019, at 3:00 p.m.