It’s not in Jason Kidd’s makeup to panic in a tough situation. His calm demeanor got his Brooklyn Nets through a rough start to this season, after many left them for dead, and through to the playoffs.

So when his Nets went down 0-2 to the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference Semifinals, Jason refused to hit the panic button going into Game 3.

Game3

Rather than scramble in desperation mode, J-Kidd’s squad focused on improving their execution of the “small things” like free throws, solid team defense, and three-point shooting, that got them to the Eastern Conference Semifinals in the first place.

“When we went down 2-0, we didn’t panic,” said Paul Pierce. “We knew they would do things right the first two games, so we said no need to panic. We are going to get stuff right that we needed to get right, come home and execute.”

Saturday night, the Nets executed beautifully in front of a raucous home crowd, securing a 104-90 win and cutting Miami’s series advantage to 2-1. Afterward, Coach Kidd lauded his team for remaining focused and understanding that all they needed to do was win to get back on track.

“Every game is going to be different. Down in Miami, in the two games that we lost, we felt that with a couple possessions here or there, we could’ve found a way to win,” Coach Kidd said. “Tonight guys were all on the same page, executing the game plan and we found a way to win at home.”

Miami Heat v Brooklyn Nets - Game 3

Brooklyn was buoyed by some stout shooting. As a group, the Nets shot 52.8 percent from the field in Game 3 and 60 percent from beyond the arc, a definitive recipe for success.

“Sometimes, the playoffs are about timely shots, not shooting the best, and when you shoot 60 percent from three, hopefully that gives you a chance to win,” Jason said. “Tonight it did.”

Brooklyn also excelled by way of its balance in the scoring column. Four of the team’s five starters reached double figures in scoring, led by Joe Johnson’s team-high 19 points to go with six assists. Off the bench, Andray Blatche and Mizra Teletovic sparked the offense by contributing 15 and 12 points, respectively. Brooklyn’s 15 made 3-pointers were a franchise postseason record.

“The big thing about this team is that we trust everyone,” Coach Kidd said. “When you look at what Dray and Mirza did tonight for us off the bench. AK was big. It was a team effort. Everybody contributed.”

Point guard Deron Wiliams set the pace for the Nets in a back and forth first quarter. After being  held scoreless in Game 2, Williams opened up the scoring when he got a floater to fall just seconds into the game. After showing the Miami defense his scoring touch, Williams began facilitating for his teammates, which led to treys from Johnson and Pierce, and allowed the home side to grab an early 15-10 lead.

“D-Will set the tone by being aggressive and attacking,” Coach Kidd said. “He’s been doing it all series. He’s attacking, getting into the paint and finding his teammates. Also, he’s setting the pace. When we get a rebound, he’s getting us out early.”

Miami Heat v Brooklyn Nets - Game 3

However, Miami had an answer early in the form of its own aggressive superstar, LeBron James. After the Nets pulled ahead by five, James quickly erased the lead with conventional and unconventional three-point plays on consecutive Heat possessions to put Miami in front by one halfway through the first. James had 16 points on 6-of-7 shooting from the field in the quarter.

“The shots he was taking, he was making them in the first quarter,” Coach Kidd said. “But we didn’t lose patience. We stuck with the game plan.”

The Heat maintained a lead for the rest of the frame, but Brooklyn never let them pull away by more than two possessions. After Chris Anderson hit a pair of free throws with three seconds left in the first, it appeared Miami would hold a four-point advantage after 12 minutes of action.

But Shaun Livingston’s long distance heave at the buzzer that somehow, someway found its way into the net to make the score 30-29 heading into the second.

Miami was poised to pull away early on in the second quarter, but Coach Kidd’s reserve group held strong.

The Heat extended their lead to five points on two occasions, but each time, Brooklyn erased the margin—and when Pierce knocked down a pair of free throws late in the second quarter, it gave the Nets a 45-44 lead, one that they never relinquished. The sides went back and forth in the half’s final minutes, but Brooklyn took a 51-49 advantage into halftime.

At the break, Andray Blatche led the Nets with 13 key points off the bench, while Johnson contributed 12, including four 3-pointers. Brooklyn outrebounded Miami 20-15 in the half and also forced eight turnovers. Most impressively, Kidd’s squad limited James to just two points in the second quarter, both of which came at the free throw line.

“He’s obviously a bull when he gets going,” Livingston said of James. “But our defensive balance was better. I think that’s a credit to our offense taking good shots, not turning the ball over a lot. And making him play on the perimeter.”

Brooklyn separated themselves from Miami in the third frame, quickly opening up a six-point lead on a jumper from Johnson and a dunk from Livingston. A free throw from James a few minutes into the third cut the margin to 59-56, but that was as close as Miami came for the rest of the night.

The Nets responded immediately with a Johnson-assisted trey from Teletovic, who knocked down four of his seven attempts from deep on the evening. Afterward, Coach Kidd lauded his sharpshooting big man, one of Brooklyn’s x-factors for the series.

“The last two games, Mirza has shot the ball extremely well,” Jason said. “That’s what he does.

[His three-point shooting] is the weapon that he brings to the table. He’s stretches the defense and he doesn’t lack confidence. That’s what makes him a great player.”

Teletovic’s first trey kicked off a 9-0 Nets run that included buckets by Blatche, Johnson and Livingston. With shots falling, the Nets became more confident in every respect – rebounding, passing, free throws, and defense – and it showed.

Nets PassingOn the defensive end, they held the Heat to 26.3 percent field goal shooting and outrebounded Miami 14-4. Thanks to stellar ball movement on the offensive end, Brooklyn finished the third 11-of-18 from the field and 4-of-6 from deep. They tallied eight assists in the quarter and 26 for the game.

“That’s the way we play,” Jason said. “The Heat are a great defensive team and they’re going to put you in different situations. I thought the way we shared the ball — there was one possession where there were six or seven passes and we ended up with a wide-open three — that’s how we played all year. Hopefully we can build on that.”

The Nets maintained their lead in the fourth, at one time stretching the margin to as many as 20 points. More solid shooting helped the home side coast to a 104-90 win and cut Miami’s series lead to 2-1.

“To sum it up, they outplayed us,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said after the game.

Miami star Dwyane Wade concurred, stating that Brooklyn “played a better game than us. Simple as that.”

The Nets’ veterans were impressed with the overall energy and aggressiveness Brooklyn brought to the table in Game 3. J-Kidd was especially proud of the way his team focused in on executing their game plan rather than going into desperation mode after losing the first two games.

“You’re not going to surprise the champs. They’ve seen everything,” he said. “It’s about being able to execute and stay disciplined for 48 minutes. That’s what we did tonight.”

NEXT UP

Brooklyn will look to carry over their confidence from Game 3 into a make-or-break Game 4 on Monday at Barclays Center.

Though winning Game 3 was an important step for the Nets in getting back into the series, Coach Kidd has counseled his players that it will mean little if they don’t hold serve again in Game 4.

“We have to treat tomorrow like a Game 7,” Johnson said.

“We’ve got to play with urgency each and every night,” Pierce added. “[Game 3] was the type of urgency that we are going to need for the rest of the series.”

Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals is set for 8 p.m. EST and the contest can be viewed nationally on TNT.

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