Behind a strong effort from their offense, the Brooklyn Nets bounced back in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference semifinals to hand the Miami Heat their first loss this postseason, 104-90.
Deron Williams recovered from his scoreless outing in Game 2 with 9 points and 11 assists, his first double digit assist game of this postseason. Joe Johnson scored 19 points and Paul Pierce 14.
The Heat had not faced a fourth-quarter deficit in the 2014 playoffs and their first postseason loss since Game 5 of last year's NBA Finals. The loss matches the Heat's fifth biggest postseason loss in the Big-3 era (since 2010-11).
The Nets are now 2-10 all-time against Miami in the playoffs. The Heat had been an unsolvable riddle for the Nets before snapping a six-game playoff losing streak versus them.
James quiet after big first quarter
LeBron James Shooting, Game 3
LeBron James scored 28 points for the Heat, his most in a game this series. He scored 16 points in the first quarter but had 12 the rest of the game. A key difference was his inability to make jump shots.
He was 4-of-5 shooting when Paul Pierce guarded him in the first quarter.
The rest of the series, James is 4-of-11 against Pierce, including 0-of-2 in the last three quarters of Game 3.
Nets strong from three-point line
The Nets were 15-25 from the three-point line (60 percent from deep), their most makes in a playoff game in 25 seasons. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, this is the fifth time in NBA playoff history that a team has taken at least 25 three pointers and made 60 percent or more.
In Game 3, the Nets had 10 uncontested jump shots (47 total jumpers) and made eight (all assisted).
Heat struggle in the paint
Miami scored a postseason-low 26 points in the paint in Game 3. They had 43 PPG in the paint during the first two games of the series.
