MIAMI — The Nets might have had a second straight season end on the shores of Biscayne Bay.
Desperately needing a win to remain within shouting distance of the final two spots at the bottom of the Eastern Conference playoff chase, the Nets instead lost for a fourth time this season to the injury-depleted Heat, falling 104-98 Wednesday night at American Airlines Arena.
The Nets are 3 ¹/₂ games behind Miami for the final playoff spot in the East and remain in 11th place — barely a week after sitting in eighth following wins in four of their first six games out of the All-Star break. That stretch included beating the league-leading Warriors at home on March 2.
“It’s definitely tough right now,” said Deron Williams, who had 18 points, but committed six turnovers. “It’s not a good feeling.
“We had a chance to control our own destiny, and we’re kind of throwing it away.”
Last season ended here with a loss in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference finals, a game in which the Nets blew a fourth-quarter lead for the second game in a row. That proved to be the final game for Jason Kidd as Nets coach.
This time, it just appears the season is over after their fifth straight loss. The first four came at home and all, at least on paper, were winnable. That included Wednesday, when the Heat were missing All-Star forward Chris Bosh, out for the season with blood clots in his lungs, and center Hassan Whiteside who was suspended for one game for a cheap shot on Celtics center Kelly Olynyk on Monday night.
The Heat also were undermanned in each of their first three games against the Nets, but all ended in Miami victories. This one was no different. The Nets fell behind by double-digits by the end of the first quarter and never took a lead over the final 36 minutes.
“We just got off to a slow start,” Joe Johnson said of the Nets’ first-quarter struggles. “It’s on us as starters to get off to a pretty good start. But in our situation, if we get off to a great start or a slow start, we seem to have a tough game anyway, so I don’t think the start really matters.”
The Nets made one final run to get themselves back into the game, getting eight straight points from Jarrett Jack to pull within 98-93 with one minute remaining. But Miami’s Dwyane Wade drove the lane and kicked out to a wide-open Mario Chalmers for a 3-pointer he buried right in front of Brooklyn’s bench to send the Nets to yet another demoralizing defeat.
“I’m not thinking about what we have to do at this point,” Nets coach Lionel Hollins said. “We have to go out there and play and battle. We’ve got to play well, we’ve got to make stops, we’ve got to get rebounds. Forget a turnaround, we’d just like to get a win.”
An ugly stretch of what has been an ugly season for the Nets got even worse Wednesday when the team announced Sergey Karasev would miss the remainder of the season with a dislocated patella and a torn MCL in his right knee.
Karasev, who the Nets also said had loose bodies in the knee, will have surgery Thursday at the Hospital for Special Surgery. He suffered the injury midway through the fourth quarter of Tuesday’s 111-91 loss to the Pelicans at Barclays Center when he ran into a screen set by New Orleans backup center Alexis Ajinca.
Any timetable for Karasev’s recovery won’t be given until after the surgery.
Karasev came to the Nets last summer, along with Jack, as part of a three-team trade that included the Cavaliers and Celtics. That deal allowed Cleveland to clear enough cap space to sign LeBron James as a free agent.
The 21-year-old spent most of the season as a bit player, but did get a 16-game stretch as a starter — his first extended playing time in two years as a pro — during which he averaged 7.4 points, 2.9 rebounds and 2.1 assists.