The road to the Eastern Conference finals was going through Miami for the Brooklyn Nets and unfortunately, the path was too steep for them to climb. After blowing a significant lead in the last minutes of the 4th quarter, Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and company went home with a 96-94 Game 5 loss at American Airlines Arena.
Joe Johnson carried the Nets for most of the game, but when LeBron James started defending him, things went south. The Heat ended up going on a 13-3 run to end the 4th quarter, coming up big after a Ray Allen three with 32 seconds left to give the team a two point lead. Ultimately, luck fell on Miami, with LBJ making a huge stop as time expired, making it impossible for Joe Johnson to get a shot off.
Welcome to the off-season Brooklyn.
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LeBron ended the game with 29 points and 9 rebounds, while D. Wade scored 28 points for the Heat. On the other side of the ball Joe Johnson led all Nets scorers with 34 points. Paul Pierce and Deron Williams scored 19 and 17 points respectively, while Kevin Garnett did not show up on offense, scoring on 2 points for the game.
“We want the ball in Joe Johnson’s hands to win the game.” (c) Jason Kidd
The Miami Heat await the winner of the Washington Wizards and Indiana Pacers in the Eastern Conference Finals.