The Brooklyn Nets have an opportunity to right a wrong.
After sweeping the Miami Heat two years ago, the Nets found themselves on the wrong end of a sweep last season. (Five of the last eight Nets-Heat games have been decided by four points or fewer.)
The Nets are also looking to get back into the win column after dropping Monday’s game to the Orlando Magic to finish a six-game homestand at 3-3.
Brook Lopez:
Brook Lopez said he expects more from himself after scoring 11 points on Monday night and should be motivated. Lopez (19.0 ppg, 8.1 rpg, 2.1 bpg) is one of two players in the NBA averaging at least 19 points, eight boards and two blocks, so Monday’s statline is hopefully just a one-off for the Nets’ big man.
“At the end of the day you want to look at it as one game and learn what we can,” Lopez said on Monday. “You don’t want to be hanging our heads, taking multiple steps back anymore then we should from tonight. We still have plenty of games left, plenty of season left, and we need to focus on what we need to do and how to get better.”
The Heat:
The Miami Heat are having a nice bounce-back season.
At 14-9, the Heat are tied with the Charlotte Hornets atop the Southeast Division standings with marquee wins over the Cleveland Cavaliers, Oklahoma City Thunder and Memphis Grizzlies. Two seasons removed from LeBron James, the Heat are playing with a defense-first mentality, allowing the second-fewest points in the Association (92.6 per game), offsetting their 28th-ranked offense (95.8 ppg).
Dwyane Wade:
Dwyane Wade is averaging 18.0 points per game, which leads the Heat, but is Wade’s lowest production since his rookie season (16.2 ppg) back in 2003-04. Wade has played 955 games (including playoffs), which is a ton of basketball, but while his body may be slowing down, his mind is still sharp, as he’s averaging his best assist-to-turnover ratio (1.98) since 2009-10.
Chris Bosh is right behind Wade with 17.7 ppg, along with 8.4 rebounds per game. Hassan Whiteside leads the Heat with 10.5 rpg and 4.0 blocks per game. Goran Dragic – acquired last season from Phoenix before signing a 5-year, $85M contract, leads the team with 5.2 assists-per-game.
Sergey Karasev:
Sergey Karasev is listed as questionable for Wednesday’s game vs. the Heat with a sore left ankle.
