The Miami Heat took a 2-0 lead in their series with the Brooklyn Nets on Thursday with a hard fought 94-82 win.
The Heat sent out the same starting lineup as game one on Thursday and Shane Battier was quick to make his presence known again with a three-pointer in the first five minutes of play. Chris Bosh would then go on a quick run for 30 seconds picking up four points with a jump shot and layup. Bosh would also hit one off two free throws a minute later to give the Heat a two point lead with 5:35 to go in the quarter.
Less than two minutes from then, LeBron James delivered an emphatic dunk on the backend of an alley oop started by Mario Chalmers for his first points of the game. It was a low scoring first quarter especially for Miami that ended with Brooklyn leading 21-15. Miami was only 6-18 as a team in the quarter including 1-8 on three-point attempts.
In the second quarter, Rashard Lewis hit a quick three to cut the deficit in half. Chris Andersen would add a layup shortly to make it a one-point game. Three minutes into the quarter, Norris Cole sank a three to tie the game up.
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After Mirza Teletović hit a three of his own, Lewis sank another trey to tie the game once more. Brooklyn would get their lead back to six with 6:10 left in the quarter before the Heat took a timeout. The Nets would still go on to increase the lead to seven after a three from Paul Pierce with 4:18 left in the half.
The game was all tied up at 43 with 1:02 left in the quarter following a James jump shot. Teletović would strike with a three-pointer, but James quickly answered with a reverse layup. At the buzzer, the Nets took a 46-45 lead to the locker room. Shooting was much improved for Miami in the second quarter at a 12 for 18 clip overall and 4 of 5 from downtown.
The second half got underway with the two teams exchanging baskets in the early minutes. With 8:08 left in the quarter, the Nets extended the lead to two points on a free-throw. It was the first time that Brooklyn was at the line in the game.
The trading of baskets would continue after that point all the way until 5:54 left in the quarter when the Heat called a timeout with the game knotted at 55. With 4:28 remaining, Ray Allen came in for Dwyane Wade who had been having a tough game and quickly made a diving layup. Allen would add a three-pointer under two minutes later to give Miami a three-point lead.
Following a timeout by Brooklyn, Teletović sank a three to tie it but only 23 seconds later; Allen hit another of his own to give the Heat their lead right back. James drove in for a layup with 24 seconds left in the quarter and that would be the last score as Miami took a 69-67 advantage to the fourth.
The fourth quarter began with a quick jump shot by Bosh which was followed by Wade making a jump shot of his own. Less than a minute into the quarter, the Heat had increased their lead to six. Wade added another jump shot with 9:43 left after the Nets had cut it to four.
After having only six points entering the fourth quarter, Wade had six more in just the first 3:06 of the fourth quarter after sinking two free throws. The Heat would call a timeout with 6:15 left in the fourth and their lead reduced to only two. Wade had scored every point in the quarter for the team except for the opening make by Bosh and was up to eight overall in the fourth.
Chalmers would put a stop to that Wade run with a three-pointer when 5:55 remained to give Miami a five point lead. Allen would then hit yet another three-pointer of his own to give the Heat an eight-point lead with 5:10 left. When Bosh hit a jump shot a little more than a minute later, it gave the Heat their first double digit lead of the game.
As the clock ticked down starting from 3:39 to 1:59 left in the fourth, the Heat kept possession the entire time with three rebounds before James hit a layup to give him 20 points in the game. The shot by James was his fourth attempt during the long possession and put Miami up by ten once again. Chalmers would hit a three-pointer with 56 seconds left to put Miami on top by 12 and seal the win.
Game three will tip-off at 8:00 p.m. on Saturday from Brooklyn, with the Heat trying to take a dominating 3-0 lead in the series.
