D’Angelo Russell got the headlines and DeMarre Carroll got to tie his career-high with 26 points. But it was the defense and energy of Caris LeVert and Quincy Acy off the bench that got the Nets a come-from-behind 101-95 win over Miami on Friday night at Barclays Center.
“I thought Caris and Quincy came in the game and changed the energy,” coach Kenny Atkinson said. “Caris had a big hand in it, obviously Quincy’s shooting opened up the floor for us. Lastly, our offense definitely wasn’t pretty by any means, but a really good defensive performance.”
Atkinson subbed Acy in with 8:06 left in the third quarter, and brought LeVert off the bench 31 seconds later. The Nets trailed 66-51, but the duo brought defensive grit and hustle, helping force misses on 16-of-17 shots by Miami.
“We were struggling, we were searching, throwing a lot of different guys. We finally decided to go small and opened up the court,” Atkinson said. [LeVert’s] energy offensively and defensively changed our approach to the game, because up to that point we were stuck in mud.”
Going small with Acy also spread the floor and gave Miami fits.
“They went to the small lineup and we struggled when they go small, when they put a shooter at the five or spacer and that was our kryptonite,” Heat guard Goran Dragic said. “They went small and they stretched us. They play pick-and-roll on top, try to put our five in pick-and-rolls and we just didn’t communicate it well. The ball went up early and they take advantage of that. They score some easy ones. We had a couple of breakdowns and that was the game.”
Carroll scored his 26 points on 9-of-12 shooting from the field, while hitting 3-of-5 from 3-point range and 5-of-5 from the free-throw line.
LeVert and Spencer Dinwiddie scored all the Nets’ points in a 10-4 run to break a 91-all tie and close the game. LeVert had all 12 of his points in the second half and 10 in the fourth quarter. Dinwiddie had 15 points, six rebounds and three assists in 29 minutes.
