Brooklyn Nets at Miami Heat

Heat run away from Nets, win 117-88

That is, until Saturday.

Kelly Olynyk scored 25 points, Derrick Jones Jr. added 18 off the bench and the Heat never trailed on the way to easily topping the Brooklyn Nets 117-88.

"We needed that. We needed to keep that lead," Heat guard Dwyane Wade said. "Obviously, at this time of the year everyone has games coming rapidly. You don't always want to be in a fourth-quarter battle."

The Heat were without Goran Dragic (left calf strain) and Hassan Whiteside (left hip strain). James Johnson, who has been out with a sprained shoulder, was in uniform but did not play.

"We haven't had many games like this all year," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said.

Actually, none. The 29-point margin was Miami's largest win of the season, and Brooklyn's largest loss. Brooklyn remained No. 6 in the Eastern Conference race, percentage points ahead of No. 7 Detroit. Miami remained No. 10 in the East, a game behind No. 8 Orlando and No. 9 Charlotte.

Joe Harris scored 15 and Rodions Kurucs scored 11 for Brooklyn, which has dropped 10 of its last 15 games. D'Angelo Russell and Spencer Dinwiddie each scored 10 for the Nets.

It's the first time Miami has won back-to-back home games since Jan. 10 and 12. The Heat haven't had a three-game home winning streak this season.

Miami led 54-44 at the half, and pushed the lead out to 20 for the first time with about 4 minutes left in the third when Jones muscled in a left-handed layup.

And this time, a big lead wasn't problematic.

But this time, they finished the job. The lead was 84-64 going into the fourth, and it stayed one-sided the rest of the way.

"They had more intensity," Brooklyn's Caris LeVert said. "They played a lot better defense than we did. Our defense, again, wasn't up to par and it definitely showed in the score, the stat sheet, and just watching the game as well."

TIP-INS

WADE BLOCKADE

EAST MESS

The gap in the East standings between No. 6 Brooklyn and No. 10 Miami is now down to just 2 1/2 games.

UP NEXT

Nets: Host Dallas on Monday. Brooklyn has lost five of seven to the Mavericks.

Heat: Host Atlanta on Monday. Miami is 0-3 against the Hawks this season.

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Regular Season Series

MIA leads series 2-1