The Brooklyn Nets came to play on Saturday, not wanting to go down 3-0 to the two time defending champions Miami Heat. Their attack was led by the three-point shot and they set a franchise playoff record for three pointers made (15) in the 104-90 victory.
Miami's defense was far from good tonight. They allowed Brooklyn to shoot 53% from the field and an absolutely insane 60% from three point range. Brooklyn also assisted on 26 of their 38 baskets and outrebounded the Heat 43-27. It seemed like Miami struggled to cover Brooklyn's jump shots, and it seemed like the Nets got way too many easy shot attempts.
The defending champs didn't play well on offense, shooting just 46% from the floor and 33% from long range. LeBron James came to play as he almost always does, with 28 points, eight rebounds, and five assists on 8 of 15 shooting. His counterpart Dwyane Wade scored 20 points on 9 of 18 shooting. The third member of the "Big Three", Chris Bosh, was the only other Heat player in double digits with twelve.
Six Nets scored double digits in the game: Joe Johnson (19), Andray Blatche (15), Shaun Livingston (12), Mirza Teletovic (12), Paul Pierce (14), Kevin Garnett (10). Garnett was the most efficient, shooting 5 of 6 from the floor and grabbing seven rebounds in 23 minutes. Blatche had the only double-double, also pulling down ten boards. Player of the game goes to Joe Johnson for leading the team in scoring on 7 of 10 shooting and dishing out six assists.
Game 4 will take place in Brooklyn and the Nets will need to win it if they want to stay alive in the series. The crowd was alive and jubilant on Saturday night and will need to be the same for the game four. Brooklyn would be best served to try and work the ball inside more in Game 4 instead of living and dying on the three point shot like they did on Saturday.