Nets, Ben Simmons can’t shake offensive woes in loss to Heat
MIAMI — The Nets continued to struggle to create the looks they want, and they continued to struggle to win.
They fell 110-95 on Monday to the Heat before a sellout crowd of 19,832 at Kaseya Center. And once again, the problems were on the offensive end.
The Nets (11-18), who have dropped five of six and eight of their past 10, shot just 39.3 percent overall and 13-for-34 from deep, not creating enough or hitting enough 3-pointers.
Cam Johnson continued to create well for himself and had 19 points on 7-for-15 overall and 3-for-7 from 3-point range.
Young big man Noah Clowney added 19 and five rebounds, hitting 4 of 10 from behind the arc. He’s starting to find his footing in the two-man game with Ben Simmons. Lob threat Nic Claxton has missed Dennis Schroder’s pick-and-roll game since the guard was traded to Golden State, and the center finished with a quiet six points.
Meanwhile, Simmons had four points and nine assists but went scoreless with just a single helper in the second half.
“For us it’s doing what we do, just being more solid, you know, taking care of the ball, getting back in transition, executing properly. And getting back to winning basketball,” Johnson said of the goal beforehand.
That may not happen until they start rediscovering their touch from deep.
“Keep shooting. Keep playing with confidence,” Johnson said. “Let them fly and don’t worry about the result. Just make sure the process is in the right place.
“Continue to get your reps in and continue to shoot them.”
The Nets caught a fully motivated Miami (14-13).
The Heat were still seething from their humiliation at the hands of the shorthanded Magic, against whom they blew a 22-point lead entering the fourth quarter and got outscored 37-8 in the final period. It tied the seventh-most lopsided fourth quarter in NBA history.
The Nets couldn’t pull off a similar comeback. They allowed a 19-7 run that spanned the first and second quarter, fueled by their three quick turnovers. The last was a Shake Milton giveaway to Kel’el Ware, and Nikola Jovic’s ensuing free throws that left them down, 41-28.
The deficit was again 13 after Duncan Robinson’s finger roll made it 51-38 with 5:41 left in the half. Simmons was hit with a technical for arguing with the officials — he felt he was raked across the arm on his missing hook shot on the prior possession — and Tyler Herro hit the ensuing free throw.
But first, it’s important to note Simmons — a notoriously poor free throw shooter who first infuriated fans in Philadelphia and then in Brooklyn by seemingly avoiding drawing fouls — was now irate over not getting to the charity stripe.
The Nets seemed to feed on his fire, and had four assists in a 19-6 run to close the half. Simmons started it with a no-look pass to a cutting Day’Ron Sharpe and ended it with a kick-out to Clowney for a 3-pointer.
The Nets trailed 57-56 going into the locker room and 83-78 going into the fourth. They never got over the hump.
