Miami, March 27 (BUS): Kevin Durant scored 23 points, Seth Curry added 17 points, and the Brooklyn Nets beat Miami 110-95 on Saturday night, leading the Heat to lose for the fourth time in a row.
Andre Drummond has 13 points and 11 rebounds for Brooklyn, who gets 11 from Kyrie Irving — who will play his first home game of the season with the Nets on Sunday — and 10 from Nick Claxton, The Associated Press reported.
Pam Adebayo scored 14 points for Miami, which trailed by 37 points – its biggest deficit this season. The Heat were without coach Eric Spoelstra, who missed the match due to a family matter, and was replaced by assistant Chris Quinn.
Tyler Hero and Max Strauss had 13 and Kyle Lowry 12 for Miami. Jimmy Butler was suspended with only seven points in a 2 of 9 shot.
The Eastern Conference race is now tighter, with the top four teams separated by only half a game.
Philadelphia (46-27, .630) moved up to No. 1 in the East, two percentage points ahead of Miami (47-28, .627). Boston and Milwaukee – who lost Saturday night at Memphis – both 46-28 (.622); The Celtics are holding the tiebreak head-on at this point above the dollar.
Brooklyn (39-35) stays eighth, now ahead of 9th seed Charlotte. The Nets and Hornets meet Sunday night.