Paris blues follow Nets to Brooklyn

Squander big first-half lead in overtime loss to visiting Heat

January 16, 2024 John Torenli, Sports Editor Brooklyn Daily Eagle

Jimmy Butler backed down Dennis Smith Jr., before drawing the foul that helped lift Miami over slumping Brooklyn at Barclays Center Monday. AP Photo by Mary Altaffer

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Miami’s Jimmy Butler came back from a foot injury just in time to ruin the slumping Brooklyn Nets’ homecoming from Paris on Martin Luther King Day.

Butler returned from a seven-game absence due to a sprained toe and capped a 31-point effort with two free throws that put the Heat ahead to stay in overtime as they held on for a 96-95 victory in front of 17,893 heartbroken fans at Downtown’s Barclays Center.

A Net nemesis through the years, Butler was originally thought to be ruled out for the eighth consecutive contest.
But he couldn’t resist the opportunity to burn Brooklyn (16-23) when it mattered most.

He buried 8-of-12 shots from the floor without attempting a 3-pointer. Butler also drained 15-of-16 free throws, grabbed five rebounds, handed out four assists and picked up a pair of steals in 39 minutes.

The 6-foot-7 slasher put up all but eight of his points in the second half and OT, none more important than the two shots he knocked down from the charity stripe with 11.1 ticks remaining to erase a 95-94 lead for the Nets, who have lost 13 of 16, eight of their last nine and three in a row.

“I’m just glad we won,” Butler said. “I think I did enough running and conditioning to be able to come back and play 40 (minutes). Whatever was needed, we got to do.”

Butler drove to the hole against Dennis Smith Jr., with time winding down and the crowd on its feet.

He was fouled, but Nets coach Jacque Vaughn debated whether to challenge the play before opting to save his last time out in case he didn’t get a reversal.

“I got a chance to look at (the replay) real quickly. … I didn’t think they would overturn it,” said Vaughn, who was hoping for a turnaround after Brooklyn got torched, 111-102, by Cleveland in the NBA’s 2024 Paris Game last Thursday.

Mikal Bridges scored 26 points for the Nets, calmly sinking a pair of free throws with 4.1 seconds left in regulation to force the extra session.

However, his bid for a game-winning nine-foot pull-up jumper clanged off with one second to play, leaving the Nets 1-3 on their transcontinental four-game homestand after Miami finished the contest on an 8-2 run.

“Eleven seconds on the clock, we have shooters on the floor, a great opportunity for them not to sub,” Vaughn said of his decision not to call time after Butler’s second made free throw.

Nets forward Mikal Bridges couldn’t quite get loose before misfiring on a pull-up jumper with 1.0 ticks left in OT Monday in Downtown Brooklyn. AP Photo by Mary Altaffer

Cam Thomas scored 23 points off the bench and Royce O’Neale hit five 3-pointers en route to 15 points for Brooklyn, which will kick off a three-game West Coast swing Wednesday night in Portland.

Thomas and Bridges combined to go 4-of-20 from 3-point range, highlighting the Nets’ dismal 12-of-55 showing from beyond the arc.

“We had good flow … so we just wanted to get downhill and get the best shot we can,” Thomas noted. “In Paris, we started off slow so we played from behind. This game was third quarter. I’d say the way we start first and third quarters (is the key).”

Brooklyn boasted a 14-point halftime advantage before getting outscored 37-24 over the next 12 minutes.

“If I could pinpoint to one thing, every time we didn’t come away with a 50-50 ball, we paid for it,” Vaughn lamented after his team lost for the first time this year when yielding less than 110 points.

“I think we scrambled for each other tonight,” he added. “To hold this team under 100 points tonight. … We responded, especially when you shoot 12-for-55 from three.”

Tyler Herro, a player the Nets coveted this past offseason, scored 23 of his 29 points following intermission and Bam Adebayo finished with 11 points and a game-high 20 boards for the Heat (24-16), who won their third in a row.

The Nets slipped a season-worst seven games below .500, leaving Vaughn to ponder lineup changes going forward.

“That’s just where we are as a team. I’m going to put guys out there to perform,” he said.

Starters Spencer Dinwiddie and Dorian Finney-Smith combined for eight points on 2-of-12 shooting, including 1-for-11 from 3-point land.

“We’re just in a position right now where you have to perform, and that’s across the board,” Vaughn said. “That’s a challenge to the entire group from the beginning of the game to the end to be locked in and give everything you have on both ends of the floor.”

Nets coach Jacque Vaughn is running out of options as his worst stretch since taking the helm in Brooklyn continued Monday night. AP Photo by Mary Altaffer

NOTHING BUT NET: Nets center Nic Claxton amassed nine points, 13 rebounds and two blocked shots. … Brooklyn settled for a 2-2 split of its regular-season series with Miami this year. … Portland beat the Nets here, 134-127, in overtime on Jan. 7 before departing for Paris. After taking on the Blazers, the Nets will visit both Los Angeles teams, the Lakers on Friday and the Clippers on Sunday. Brooklyn will be back at Barclays on Jan. 23, when it hosts the New York Knicks. … The Nets dropped to 0-3 in overtime games this season.