The Heat Didn't Care That Joe Johnson Had A 34-Point Game

Joe Johnson hadn't scored more than 19 points in the first four games of the Nets-Heat series. Tonight, he was seemingly sinking everything with Brooklyn down 3-1. Miami wasn't fazed, though.

Brooklyn held a lead for most of the fourth quarter, but with a little under five minutes remaining, Miami just completely shut them down. At 4:48, Johnson sank a two-pointer to give the Nets a 91-83 lead. After that, LeBron and Dwyane Wade rallied with seven consecutive points before Ray Allen—who had been 0-6 from beyond the arc throughout the game—sank his first and only three from the corner to give the Heat a 93-91 lead.

It was nearly five minutes of suffocating defense by human analytic LeBron and company. Even when they allowed offensive boards and gave second chances to Brooklyn, they kept fighting until someone in white gained possession. The fact that Johnson was scoring from everywhere didn't matter so long as they stuck with what had brought them success. (Having LeBron James also helped.)

After that Johnson two-pointer, the Nets only scored once in the last 4:48 of the game, a Johnson three with 11 seconds left. He also received the ball for the final shot, down two, but Allen and LeBron hounded him into losing the ball, stealing away the last chance for Brooklyn. Who wants to try and take down the Heat next: Indiana or Washington?