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Summer League Recap: Heat 71, Nets 70

Dan Savage
Director of Digital News

By Dan Savage

July 5, 2015

ORLANDO -- It’s only two days in to the Southwest Airlines Orlando Pro Summer League, but the Miami Heat already have to be extremely encouraged by what they’ve seen from Justise Winslow.

The No. 10 overall pick in the 2015 NBA Draft, has already proven he can be a dangerous scorer, an elite defender and a phenomenal playmaker even on nights when his shot is not falling from the floor.

Winslow not only muscled his way to 14 points on Sunday, but he was part of one of the more memorable plays in Orlando’s summer league history.

With 0.4 seconds remaining, Winslow delivered a sensational game-winning, buzzer-beating alley-oop setup to Tyler Johnson, whose acrobatic layin lifted Miami to a 71-70 victory over Brooklyn.

“For us to win in that fashion, it was just great,” Winslow explained. “Everybody came together, everybody played unselfish and it really paid off at the end of the game. It was really great for us to share in a moment like that early in our careers.”

Winslow’s confidence in such a pivotal moment didn’t go unnoticed.

“Justise, I just told him in the locker room ‘you missed three free throws in a row, you stay with it, you make your last free throw and then you make the game-winning assist,’ which he couldn’t have put that pass in a better spot for Tyler to finish,” said Heat Summer League coach Dan Craig. “As a rookie it’s just a tremendous job of staying with it.”

A day after earning eight attempts at the charity stripe, Winslow went 8-for-12 from the free throw line, courtesy of an aggressive mindset and willingness to attack the rack.

“He can do so many things to impact the game,” Craig added. “If he’s not scoring, he’s still confident that he can impact the game in a lot of different areas, which he did tonight.”

Willie Reed, who spent the last three seasons in the D-League, notched team highs in both points (17) and rebounds (nine).

“He’s been tremendous,” Craig said. “He brings great energy, he brings us a shot-blocking presence around the rim and he’s a high-motor big, which is contagious for everybody else watching him.”

Johnson, who was swarmed by his teammates after coming through with the game-winner, finished with 12 points, four rebounds and four assists.

Ryan Boatright led the Nets with a game-high 23 points. The undrafted point guard out of the University of Connecticut, who was part of their 2014 NCAA champion squad, dialed it up from long distance by draining 5-of-8 attempts from 3-point range.

Rondae Hollis-Jefferson looked much more comfortable for Brooklyn, notching eight points and seven rebounds.

The No. 23 overall selection in this year’s draft, put his defensive dominance on display, holding Winslow scoreless for the entire first quarter and making things difficult on him from the field.

“He has a great attitude,” Nets Summer League coach Jay Humphries said. “He’s done everything we’ve asked when it comes to stepping up defensively.”

Miami (2-0) is back in action on Monday when they go head-to-head with the Detroit Pistons at 5 p.m. ET. Brooklyn (0-2) has the day off before taking on Charlotte at 3 p.m. on Tuesday.