Nets’ Michael Porter Jr. drops 27 points in 126-110 loss at Heat

The Brooklyn Nets (15-47) had a couple of days in South Florida to figure out what they had to work on before their rematch at the Miami Heat (34-29) on Thursday. Brooklyn could have been anywhere else on the road, but Miami has a way of clearing minds. Unfortunately for the Nets, that extra time in Florida did not give them the edge they needed to beat the Heat.

The Nets lost at the Heat 126-110 despite the fact that Brooklyn put forth a better effort on the floor compared to Tuesday’s 124-98 loss against this same Miami unit. Forward Michael Porter Jr. had quite the bounceback game as he finished this contest with 27 points and 13 rebounds while forward Noah Clowney had another steady performance with 17 points and seven rebounds.

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The Nets began the game in shaky fashion as they racked up eight of their 18 turnovers in the first quarter, leading to nine points for the Heat in the early going. Center Bam Adebayo continued to be a problem for Brooklyn as he had 21 points and seven rebounds, but he also picked up his fifth foul early in the third quarter, setting up an opportunity for the Nets to capitalize.

Despite the fact that Adebayo has to miss a significant portion of the second half, the Nets still struggled to defend Heat guard Tyler Herro (25 points, five assists) and backup center Kel’el Ware (16 points, 11 rebounds, five steals, and seven blocks). To that point, Brooklyn was able to come back from the 14-point deficit to earn back the lead in the third quarter, but the Heat proved to be the better team for the majority of the contest.

Center Nic Claxton had 16 points and eight rebounds while playing through his various hand injuries and backup forward Ziaire Williams had a second-straight solid game in Miami with his 15 points and three assists. The Heat sweep the season series with the Nets and now, Brooklyn moves on to face the Detroit Pistons, the best team record-wise in the Eastern Conference, on the road on Saturday.

This article originally appeared on Nets Wire: Nets’ Michael Porter Jr. drops 27 points in 126-110 loss at Heat