Life without LeVert difficult for Nets
Brooklyn looks lost minus top player in humbling loss to Heat
The Nets looked more like a team getting over an emotional hangover than one ready to compete in an NBA game Wednesday night at Barclays Center.
Playing its first game without injured starting shooting guard Caris LeVert, Brooklyn struggled on both ends of the floor en route to its third straight loss, an ugly 120-107 defeat to the visiting Miami Heat in front of 13,317 fans on the corners of Atlantic and Flatbush avenues.
Two nights earlier in Minnesota, the Nets (6-9) watched in horror as LeVert, their leading scorer and top player thus far this season, fell to the floor in agony with what originally appeared to be a season-ending leg injury.