Nets rebound with high-scoring victory vs. Heat

Kevin Durant scored 31 points as the Brooklyn Nets never trailed and survived multiple fourth-quarter comeback attempts by the Miami Heat and a career-high 41-point night by Bam Adebayo in a 128-124 victory Saturday night in New York.

Kyrie Irving added 18 of his 28 points in the fourth, including 10 in the final 2:41. Joe Harris added 23 and tied a career-high with seven 3-pointers. James Harden did not make a field goal until the fourth quarter and finished with 12 points and 11 assists as Brooklyn shot 53.7 percent, tied a season best with 19 3-pointers, and collected a season-high 34 assists.

Adebayo surpassed his previous career-high of 30 points on Dec. 10, 2019, and made 14 of 20 shots but did not hit a field goal in the final 5 1/2 minutes. Goran Dragic added 19 while Duncan Robinson and Kendrick Nunn finished with 18 apiece as the Heat shot 70 percent in the fourth and 47.2 percent overall.

The Nets rebounded from two losses in Cleveland by starting off fast, leading by as many as 18 before surviving Miami's rallies in the fourth.

After taking a 96-82 lead into the fourth, the Nets allowed Miami to score the first 13 points and get within 96-95 on a layup by Robinson with 9:27 remaining. The lead was down to 109-106 on Adebayo's fadeaway with 5:29 left, and it was 111-110 on a 3-pointer by Nunn with 3:23 remaining and 113-112 on a bank shot by Dragic with 1:55 remaining.

The Nets pushed their lead to 120-112 on a layup by Irving with 51 seconds left, but Miami was within 125-123 on three free throws by Robinson with 8.4 seconds left. Irving split a pair at the line with seven seconds left, Adebayo split a pair at the line with 3.3 seconds remaining and Harden made two free throws with 2.7 ticks left for a 128-124 lead.

After Miami called a timeout, the game ended when Dragic's 3-point try was well short, as the Nets did not guard him to prevent a potential four-point play.

--Field Level Media