Three Takeaways From the Nets Close Loss to the Heat

The Brooklyn Nets (7-19) returned to the Barclays Center for a conference matchup with the Miami Heat (15-12) on Thursday night.

The Nets last took the court on Sunday night, and completely demolished the Milwaukee Bucks 127-82. They were looking to keep that momentum rolling into Thursday night. Unfortunately for Brooklyn, a poor shooting night led to a 106-95 loss to the Heat.

Here are the biggest takeaways from the Nets tight loss to the Heat.

1. Danny Wolf Brings Spark Again

It was another impressive outing for the rookie forward from Michigan on Thursday night. Danny Wolf entered the game and quickly scored seven points in seven minutes, helping fill in when Noah Clowney limped off the court in the first half. Wolf would finish the night with nine points, five rebounds, two assists, and two steals. While he didn't get much run in the second half, Wolf still showed out in his first half minutes.

Wolf is really finding his game over the past couple of weeks, and is quickly becoming one of the go-to role players off the bench for Jordi Fernandez. His ability to stretch the court, score at all three levels, and play sound defense makes him a valuable asset for Brooklyn. Out of all five 2025 first-round picks, Wolf is playing the most consistent ball of any of them.

2. Nic Claxton Steps Up

CLAX ATTACK 💪 pic.twitter.com/WUxXzyenEw
— Brooklyn Nets (@BrooklynNets) December 19, 2025

One of the best matchups in this game came in the post, where Nic Claxton had a difficult matchup with Miami star Bam Adebayo. Claxton more than held his own in the matchup, playing a great game on both ends of the court. He filled up the stat sheet, finishing the night with 16 points, 12 rebounds, eight assists, two steals, and three blocks.

With how good Michael Porter Jr. has been this year, Claxton's performances have flown under the radar. Entering Thursday's game, he was averaging a career-high 13.4 points per game to go along with 7.6 rebounds and a career-best 4.4 assists per game. He's given the Nets some really great play in the post and has been a nice second option to MPJ. Thursday's game just added another great performance to Claxton's 2025 ledger.

3. Poor Three-Point Shooting Kills Nets

The Nets had plenty of chances to win this game, but a poor night of shooting from behind the arc ruined any chance of that happening. Brooklyn was 11-49 from three-point range on Thursday. They entered Thursday's game shooting 34.9% from three, so this was truly a disastrous showing from a team that was middle of the pack in three-point percentage.

Everyone struggled to find their shooting stroke against Miami. Porter Jr. was 5-14 from three, while Clowney went 0-9. Porter Jr. and rookie guard Egor Demin combined for eight of the Nets' 11 total threes on the night. As of now, this is a one-off bad shooting night for Brooklyn. They need to make sure it doesn't become a trend.