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 The Heat held the Brooklyn Nets to 42.3 percent shooting from the
field on Thursday night in a 94-82 victory at AmericanAirlines
Arena, taking a 2-0 lead in the Eastern Conference best-of-seven
semifinal series.
In Game 1, the Heat held Nets center Kevin Garnett scoreless for the
first time in his long and storied career.
But perhaps that was not impressive enough, considering that
Garnett, 37, is near the end of his career.
In Game 2, the Heat held Nets point guard Deron Williams scoreless.
Williams, in the prime of his career, missed all nine of his shots
from the floor.
"We're just doing what we can to keep him in front of us as much as
we can," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said of the defense on Williams.
Offensively, the Heat were led by forward LeBron James, who had a
game-high 22 points on 9-of-18 shooting from the field.
But this was hardly an offensive show the likes of which fans are
used to seeing from the Heat. Miami got just five points from its
fast break after getting just four in the first game.
 "It's the playoffs," Heat guard Ray Allen said. "We've been a great
fast-break team and scored a lot in transition. But teams are
loading up and making sure they get back on transition defense. So
we have to score in other ways."
The Heat defense sprung some holes, but the team quickly made
adjustments. Nets guard Shaun Livingston, for example, went 4 of 4
from the floor in the first quarter for eight points. But he was
held scoreless in the second quarter and finished with 15 points.
Another example was Nets forward Mirza Teletovic, who scored 12
points in the second quarter on 4-of-6 shooting from 3-point
territory. He had 15 points at the half but just five points in the
second half, including only two in the fourth quarter.
Teletovic's reaction to getting shut down in the second half was
telling and indicated that teams are almost expecting to get stopped
by Miami.
"I think it is normal that once you make four or five 3s, they will
try to stay with you more (defensively)," he said. "If they stay
with me, somebody else will be open. That's the plan."
The plan now for the Nets is to try to stay in the series by winning
Game 3 at home on Saturday night. If not, this could be over
quickly.
Garnett, though, indicated there is no panic in the veteran team.
"We have a lot of confidence in ourselves," he said. "We just have
to go home and defend our home court."
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That will not be easy to do against a Heat team that received
balanced scoring again. In addition to James, forward Chris Bosh had
18 points, guard Dwyane Wade 14, Allen 13 and point guard Mario
Chalmers 11.
For the Nets, Teletovic led the way with 20, Livingston had 15 and
forwards Paul Pierce and Joe Johnson had 13 each. The Heat outscored the Nets 24-21 in the third quarter to take a
69-67 lead. Allen, who had 10 points in the quarter, was the biggest
factor for the Heat.
In the fourth quarter, with the game still in doubt, Miami outscored
Brooklyn 25-15. Wade, who had a quiet game overall, led Heat scorers
with eight fourth-quarter points, including 4 of 4 from the foul
line.
"You could tell early how your night is going offensively," Wade
said. "I saw I was struggling a little bit, so I wanted to do the
little things, and then when the opportunity came, I could really
help us offensively."
The Heat are now a perfect 6-0 in the 2014 playoffs, including a 4-0
opening-round sweep of the Charlotte Bobcats.
And for all the talk of the Nets' four straight regular-season wins
over the Heat, Miami has dominated this franchise in the playoffs
through the years. The Heat are now 10-1 against the Nets in the
postseason, including five wins in a row.
"When you are playing a good team with experienced veterans, you
have to grind it out," Bosh said. "Things were not going our way for
most of the game. We had to stay with it and get out with a win."
 NOTES: Thursday's game was consecutive sellout No. 199 for Miami.
... Both teams started the same lineups as in Game 1. ... Heat PF
Chris Andersen, who suffered a knee contusion on Tuesday, was back
in action on Thursday, coming in off the bench in the first quarter.
... Nets F Paul Pierce turned his right ankle in the first quarter
but remained in the game. ... Nets SG Shaun Livingston twisted his
right knee in the first quarter but stayed in the game.
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