Mikal Bridges scored 17 of his career-high 45 points in the fourth quarter as the Brooklyn Nets pulled away down the stretch for a 116-105 victory over the visiting Miami Heat Wednesday night in New York.
Bridges surpassed his previous career best of 34 points with a spectacular stretch during a span of 3:05 in the fourth that turned Brooklyn's 90-89 lead into a 105-96 advantage on his 15-footer with 4:16 left.
Bridges made 17 of 24 shots and was 7 of 10 in the fourth quarter when the Nets made 13 of 19 shots and outscored Miami 33-25.
Bridges set a career high for field goals after being held to seven points Monday against the Knicks. He also added eight rebounds and five assists as the Nets bounced back from a pair of rough finishes in losses to Philadelphia and the Knicks.
Reserve Cam Thomas added 19 and Cameron Johnson chipped in 18 as the Nets shot 53.2, hit 17 3-pointers and improved to 7-11 in their past 18 games. Spencer Dinwiddie was held to nine and his 3-pointer gave the Nets the lead for good at 86-84 with 10:38 left.
Bam Adebayo reached double figures for the 70th straight game by totaling 24 points and 13 rebounds for his 28th double-double but the Heat dropped 2 1/2 games behind the fifth-place Nets.
Gabe Vincent added 21 and Max Strus contributed 18 for the Heat, who shot 45.8 percent but missed 20 of 28 3-pointers. They also missed eight of 29 free-throw tries after entering the game third in the NBA in free-throw percentage.
The Nets held a 26-25 lead after the opening quarter when Dinwiddie sank a 3-pointer on his first shot attempt with 5.1 seconds left. Miami trailed by four midway through the second and took a 56-52 lead by halftime.
Brooklyn outscored Miami 22-13 over the final 6:41 of the third and took an 83-80 lead when Bridges sank a jumper from the line just before the horn. After consecutive dunks by Adebayo in the opening minute prompted a Brooklyn timeout, Bridges put on his impressive display.
--Field Level Media
Miami | Brooklyn | |
Bam Adebayo 24 | Scoring | Mikal Bridges 45 |
Bam Adebayo 6 | Assists | Mikal Bridges 5 |
Bam Adebayo 13 | Rebounds | Nic Claxton 9 |
Gabe Vincent 6 | Free Throws Made | Mikal Bridges 7 |
Haywood Highsmith 1 | Steals | Mikal Bridges 2 |
Bam Adebayo 2 | Blocks | Mikal Bridges 2 |
Team | Points | FG% | 3PM-3PA | FTM-FTA | Assists | Rebounds | Blocks | Steals | Turnovers |
Miami | 105 | 45.8 | 8-28 | 21-29 | 19 | 41 | 3 | 4 | 8 |
Brooklyn | 116 | 53.2 | 17-39 | 17-20 | 26 | 36 | 5 | 3 | 11 |