MIAMI — On Saturday night in Brooklyn, the Nets missed their chance to record their first win on the second half of a back-to-back this season when they let the LA Clippers come back from 10 points down in the final minute of the third quarter to pull away from them in the fourth.
They'll get another chance Wednesday night in Dallas when they complete their fifth back-to-back of the season's first five weeks.
Of course, you can't sweep a back-to-back without winning the front end, as they now have in four of their five back-to-backs after Tuesday night's 104-92 win over the Heat. In beating Miami, they took aim at a goal and accomplished it: closing out a game in the fourth quarter. Trailing the Heat by three points going into the fourth, the Nets throttled Miami 30-15 over the final 12 minutes, surging to a lead and never letting the Heat challenge it in the last few minutes.
They lost the fourth quarter by that same 15-point margin against the Clippers.
"Hat goes off to Kenny (Atkinson) because he did a good job of bringing us in and going through the film of the Clippers game," said DeMarre Carroll. "We did so many great things in that Clippers game, but we couldn't finish it. We responded today from that film session. He's taking his time with a young group and we've got to continue to keep pushing and keep getting better and hopefully we'll close the game."
The Nets recorded this bounce-back win, one they hope says more about their growth than a single addition to the win column, in their fourth game since Caris LeVert dislocated his foot in Minnesota.
D'Angelo Russell called it an "adjusting process" when it comes to playing without LeVert, but so far the Nets seem to have handled it pretty well. Skip past that first game against the Heat in Brooklyn -- where the Nets were playing without Jarrett Allen as well -- and it's been mostly positive signs for the last three games.
The Nets breezed past the Wizards in the second half, and had a 10-point lead in the final minute of the third quarter before the Clippers rolled past them in the fourth on Saturday. The first half on Tuesday night wasn't pretty offensively, but the Nets were only down three at halftime. In terms of a net negative, they're looking at one truly poor quarter out of their last 12.
"I think there's another level we can take it," said Russell. "Defensively. Offense can be more fluid. A lot of things we can definitely touch on. But as far as right now, few games without him, whole complete different units out there that are playing together, I think it's positive."
JARRETT ALLEN COMES BACK STRONG
Jarrett Allen followed up his career-high 24 points against the Clippers on Saturday night with a season-high 14 rebounds against the Heat on Tuesday. It was his third game back after he missed two games last week due to illness, and he's been on a tear ever since, beginning with his 16 and 12 double-double against the Wizards last Friday.
Over the last three games, Allen is averaging 17.7 points and 12.3 rebounds.
One of the games Allen missed was against the Heat last Wednesday at Barclays Center, and Miami put up 70 points in the paint with the Nets missing one of the league's top rim protectors. That number was down to 50 points on Tuesday night, and the Heat had to work for it, shooting just 41.6 percent in the paint after Allen established this was going to be a different kind of game with two early blocked shots. Last week the Heat shot 68.6 percent in the paint.
"His little illness there, his little sabbatical there, it's like he has this burst of energy now that's phenomenal," said Kenny Atkinson. "The offensive rebounding has kind of come out of nowhere. But he's playing with a ton of energy. I thought in the beginning of the game he was the key, protecting that rim and coming over and blocking shots, affecting their drives."
RUSSELL FINISHES OFF HEAT
D'Angelo Russell had his third straight 20-point game in Miami on Tuesday night, following up 23-point outings against both the Wizards and Clippers. For three quarters, Russell and the Nets searched for some offensive consistency, and he headed into the fourth shooting 5-of-15 from the field.
But he shot 4-for-7 over eight fourth-quarter minutes, and with the Nets holding a three-point lead, Russell scored all eight Brooklyn points in a little 8-3 run that gave the Nets a 98-90 lead approaching the two-minute mark, essentially putting the game away.
"It was all rim attempts, and all rim attacks," said Kenny Atkinson. "I think that's when he's at his best. We gave the ball to him, him and Jarrett Allen in the pick and roll, and he did a fantastic job getting to the rim."
ABOUT THE MAVERICKS
The Mavericks are 7-9 with their four-game win streak snapped by the Memphis Grizzlies on Monday night. Rookie Luka Doncic leads Dallas with 19.2 points per game, and the 19-year-old also averages 6.8 rebounds and 4.1 assists. DeAndre Jordan is third in the NBA with 13.6 rebounds per game.