Halfway there: Miami tops Nets in Game 2, 94-82
Miami Heat’s Dwyane Wade (3) passes as Brooklyn Nets’ Shaun Livingston, center, and Mason Plumlee (1) defend in the first half of Game 1 in an NBA Eastern Conference semifinal basketball series, Tuesday, May 6, 2014, in Miami. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)
MIAMI—LeBron James scored 22 points and Chris Bosh added 18 as the Miami Heat took a 2-0 lead in their Eastern Conference semifinal series by beating the Brooklyn Nets 94-82 on Friday (Manila time).
Dwyane Wade had 14 and Ray Allen scored 13 for the Heat, who tied a franchise record with their eighth straight playoff victory.
Mirza Teletovic set a Nets playoff record with six 3-pointers, on his way to a 20-point night off the bench. Shaun Livingston scored 15, Paul Pierce had 13 and Joe Johnson added 13 more for the Nets.
Game 3 is Sunday (Manila time) in Brooklyn.
It was a two-point game midway through the fourth, but back-to-back 3s by the Heat opened some breathing room. And then a marathon possession for an NBA team — 100 seconds — sealed the deal for Miami.
Miami was scoreless for the game’s first 3:32, the longest Heat drought to open a home game since Feb. 26, 2005 — 443 contests ago. And that set the tone for some serious offensive struggles in the early going, with the Nets scoring only 21 points in the first quarter and still leading by six when the period was over.
James had only three shots in the game’s first 21 minutes, then closed the half on a 4-for-4 flurry and Miami went into the break trailing 46-45.
