Mikal Bridges pours in career-high 45 as Nets take down Heat

Mikal Bridges scored 17 of his career-high 45 points in the fourth quarter as the Brooklyn Nets pulled away down the stretch for a 116-105 victory over the visiting Miami Heat Wednesday night in New York.

Bridges surpassed his previous career best of 34 points with a spectacular stretch during a span of 3:05 in the fourth that turned Brooklyn's 90-89 lead into a 105-96 advantage on his 15-footer with 4:16 left.

Bridges made 17-of-24 shots and was 7-of-10 in the fourth quarter when the Nets made 13 of 19 shots and outscored Miami 33-25 lead.

Bridges set a career high for field goals after being held to seven points Monday against the Knicks. He also added eight rebounds and five assists as the Nets bounced back from a pair of rough finishes in losses to Philadelphia and the Knicks.

Reserve Cam Thomas added 19 and Cameron Johnson chipped in 18 as the Nets shot 53.2, hit 17 3-pointers and improved to 7-11 in their past 18 games. Spencer Dinwiddie was held to nine and his 3-pointer gave the Nets the lead for good at 86-84 with 10:38 left.

Bam Adebayo reached double figures for the 70th straight game by totaling 24 points and 13 rebounds for his 28th double-double but the Heat dropped 2 1/2 games behind the fifth-place Nets.

Gabe Vincent added 21 and Max Strus contributed 18 for the Heat, who shot 45.8 percent but missed 20 of 28 3-pointers and also missed eight of 29 free-throw tries after entering the game third in the NBA in free-throw percentage

The Nets held a 26-25 lead after the opening quarter when Dinwiddie sank a 3-pointer with 5.1 seconds left on his first shot attempt. Miami trailed by four midway through the second and took a 56-52 lead by halftime.

Brooklyn outscored Miami 22-13 over the final 6:41 of the third and took an 83-80 lead when Bridges sank a jumper from the line just before the horn. After consecutive dunks by Adebayo in the opening minute prompted a Brooklyn timeout, Bridges put on his impressive display.