Bam Adebayo had 23 points, nine rebounds and a career-high tying six steals as the Miami Heat beat visiting Brooklyn 124-98 on Tuesday, handing the Nets their season-worst ninth straight loss.
Tyler Herro scored 22 points for Miami, which led by as many as 27 and won for the fifth time in its last seven games. Jaime Jaquez Jr. had 20 points, Andrew Wiggins added 13 points and seven rebounds, and Simone Fontecchio scored 12 points.
Heat center Kel’el Ware recorded his 20th double-double of the season with 11 points, 13 rebounds and a career-high five steals.
Brooklyn was held to 38.4% shooting from the field and 18.8% (6 of 32) from 3-point range while losing for the 12th time in 14 games.
Noah Clowney led the Nets with 17 points. Ziaire Williams scored 16 points, Nolan Traore added 14, Danny Wolf had 11, and Day’Ron Sharpe chipped in 10 points and eight rebounds.
Miami shot 49.5% from the field and made 13 of 36 3-point attempts (36.1%).
The Heat led 34-28 after the first quarter and opened up a 10-point lead with 7:53 left in the second after Jaquez and Ware made back-to-back 3-pointers during an 8-0 run.
Adebayo and Herro scored 15 points apiece in the first half to help Miami take a 69-54 lead at intermission. The Nets were limited to one field goal in the final 5:50.
Miami moved ahead 76-58 on Adebayo’s layup with 9:34 left in the third quarter and maintained a double-digit lead throughout the second half.
Fontecchio drilled a 3-pointer to give the Heat a 91-75 lead at the end of the third quarter. Miami remained in control in the fourth and led 113-88 on Adebayo’s jumper with 5:09 left to play.
Brooklyn forward Michael Porter Jr., who entered the contest averaging a team-high 24.5 points, scored nine points on 3-of-17 shooting, including 0-for-9 from beyond the arc.
Adebayo finished with eight defensive boards and passed Udonis Haslem to become Miami’s all-time leading defensive rebounder with 4,180.
