- The 12-time All-Star came out of the gates aggressively, hitting two of his first four shots for an early five points. Durant checked out of the game for the first time with 3:38 left in the first, finishing his first stint on the floor with nine points on 4-of-6 shooting.

Taking advantage of a banged-up Miami team playing without Jimmy Butler, Kyle Lowry, and P.J. Tucker, the Nets led 35-23 after one, as Patty Mills chipped in with eight points off the bench.

The Nets extended their lead to 13 points early in the second, with a Curry corner three making it a 40-27 game. Durant checked back in with 7:51 left in the half and the Nets holding a 13-point edge, and the Nets began to heat up from beyond the arc, with Mills getting red-hot, starting 4-of-4 from three-point range.

In the closing minutes of the second, Durant scored eight straight points for the Nets while also picking up a technical foul for complaining about the lack of a foul call. Durant had 17 points on 7-of-11 shooting in the half, as the Nets led 67-60 at the break.

- The start of the third quarter belonged to Miami, as they outscored Brooklyn 14-7 to tie the game at 74-74 thanks to six points from Bam Adebayo. A 14-0 Heat run ultimately put Miami up by seven with about four minutes left in the quarter, prompting acting head coach Jacque Vaughn to call a timeout.

The Heat outscored New York 28-17 in the quarter to take an 88-84 lead into the fourth. Durant scored eight points in the third to try to keep the Nets around, increasing his point total to 25 in 28 minutes to that point. For Miami, Adebayo had 25 points through three while Max Strus added 21 points of his own.

- In the fourth, Adebayo And Tyler Herro continued to build on Miami’s lead, pushing it to eight with just under seven minutes left. In the final four minutes, a Brown three cut the Miami lead to six, and a Durant free-throw line jumper rattled in to make it a four-point game. A 10-point run from Brooklyn cut the lead to two points with two minutes to go.

With 40 seconds left, an Adebayo contested layup put Miami back up by four, and they’d hold on for the win. Durant finished with 31 points, four rebounds, and four assists, while Brown added 21 points. Adebayo had 30 points and 11 rebounds to lead the Heat, while Herro scored 27 points.

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