MIAMI — The Nets met with Dion Waiters this summer and inked Tyler Johnson to an offer sheet, but in the end they didn’t get either restricted free-agent guard. On Monday, the Heat duo walked off the court with their eighth straight win while Brooklyn dropped its sixth consecutive tilt.
Brooklyn met with Waiters in Las Vegas during free agency, according to ESPN, but opted not to sign him. Waiters, who landed in Miami, followed up his Eastern Conference Player of the Week award with 19 points and a game-high nine assists in the Heat’s 104-96 win over the Nets. He’s averaging 24.2 points per game in his last six games.
“He’s really been working on trying to be more efficient, working on how to make more winning plays, learning how to finish better at the rim, learning how to ultimately impact winning better,’’ Miami coach Erik Spoelstra said.
“He’s played probably his most efficient basketball during that stretch, obviously the big shots at the end of a couple games, but it was efficient basketball where he was making positive plays for the team on both ends.”
For Brooklyn fans who enjoy their wounds covered in salt, Johnson made his return after missing five games with a strained left shoulder.
The Nets had signed Johnson to a four-year, $50 million offer sheet, but Miami matched and had seen him average 14.2 points, 4.3 boards and 3.2 assists coming into Monday. After missing out on the 24-year-old combo guard, the Nets immediately gave a one-year, $4 million deal to Greivis Vasquez, who played just 38 minutes before being bought out.
“They’re going through it,’’ Johnson told The Post. “They’ve got a lot of young guys over there. They’re trying to find an identity, which isn’t easy when you don’t have a lot of veterans over there. But slowly but surely they’re going to figure it out. They’ve got a good coach, they’ve got a good GM [Sean Marks], so eventually I think they’ll put the pieces together.”
The Nets officially announced the signing of Quincy Acy to a multi-year deal.
“I went in and talked to Sean [Marks]. We had a sitdown. My agent and him had engaged in talks, and we just sat down and had a face-to-face and he told me what he expected of me. ‘All right, where do I sign?’’’ said Acy, who earned his way to the two-year deal after a pair of 10-day contracts.
“I remember that I got waived before, and I got sent down to the D-League, and I don’t want that feeling anymore, so that’s going to be my motivation every day.”
Jeremy Lin (hamstring) and Joe Harris (ankle) both missed the game.
Yogi Ferrell, waived by the Nets and signed by Dallas off their D-League team, had 19 points, five rebounds and four steals to help fuel the Mavericks’ 104-97 win over defending champion Cleveland.