MIAMI — Game 6 between the Miami Heat and Brooklyn Nets was just about set for Friday night in New York.
The Nets were in command with an eight-point lead with 4:49 left in the fourth quarter, and Miami had no answer for Brooklyn guard Joe Johnson, who had his way offensively for much of the game.
But as these 2014 playoffs have proven, few leads are safe at any point in the game. Miami overcame that deficit — similar but not quite as dramatic as their Game 6 victory over the San Antonio Spurs in the 2013 NBA Finals — eliminated the Nets 96-94 in Game 5 Wednesday.
The Heat now are headed back to the Eastern Conference finals for the fourth consecutive year.
BOX SCORE: Heat 96, Nets 94
SCHEDULE: Second-round TV times
The Nets squandered a 91-83 lead in the fourth quarter, and their late-game execution once again turned into an issue. Brooklyn made just one of their final 10 shots, a problem that plagued it in three of its losses. Down the stretch in three of the Nets' losses, they made three of 27 shots.
"They made plays and they made shots, and we didn't," first-year Nets coach Jason Kidd said. "We were attacking, and in basketball, sometimes you don't make shots. It happens, and they did."
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