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Heat hang on to beat Nets

Mar 12, 2015 - 4:18 AM Miami, FL (SportsNetwork.com) - Dwyane Wade scored 28 points and handed out nine assists as the Miami Heat held on for a 104-98 win over the Brooklyn Nets.

Chris Andersen tied a career-high with 18 points and added a season-high 14 rebounds as the Heat won for the second time in three games. Goran Dragic returned from a two-game absence due to a back injury to record 17 points.

"Guys are fighting for each other," said Heat coach Erik Spoelstra.

The Nets committed 21 turnovers which led to 26 Miami points in their fifth straight loss. Deron Williams and Jarrett Jack paced Brooklyn with 18 points apiece, and Thaddeus Young and Brook Lopez each scored 15.

"They're a good team, they have guys that played in championships on their team," said Young. "They know how to make runs."

Despite leading by as many as 16 in the fourth, Miami needed clutch plays from its backcourt to close out the game.

With a minute left, Jack hit a layup to cut the Heat's lead to 101-96. At the other end, Mario Chalmers drained a 3 and forced a Nets timeout. After Jack's 3 out of the timeout, Wade knocked down a pair of free throws. Out of another timeout, Dragic stole the ball, and Miami held on from there.

The Heat made their first nine shots to open the game with Wade collecting an assist on five of them. Andersen got the start for the suspended Hassan Whiteside and scored eight points in the first four minutes, and Miami led 34-23 after one.

The Nets cut their deficit down to eight points a minute into the second period when Bojan Bogdanovic's 3 was followed by a Mason Plumlee bucket. Miami followed with nine straight points, including five from Wade.

An 8-0 run from Brooklyn late in the half had the Nets on the verge of pulling within single digits, but Miami hit four free throws in the final 1 1/2 minutes and went into the locker room with a 62-51 lead despite its last field goal of the half coming at 3:45 in the second.

The Nets did cut the Heat's lead to single digits in the third period when Williams scored four points to cap a 9-0 Brooklyn run before Dragic's bank shot on the ensuing possession finally disrupted the Nets' momentum.

That Dragic bucket started a 13-4 spurt for the Heat that gave them an 82-67 lead after three.

Game Notes

Miami swept the four-game season series ... Whiteside was suspended for elbowing Boston's Kelly Olynyk on Monday ... The Heat had not allowed Brooklyn to score more than 96 points in their last 12 meetings in Miami ... The Nets fell to 4-11 in the second half of back-to-back sets.