NBA

Dwyane Wade the superstar in Nets’ Joe Johnson reunion

MIAMI ā€” It was weird seeing Joe Johnson beating the Nets, but watching Dwyane Wade bullying Brooklyn? Yeah, thatā€™s all too famišŸ¦©liar.

Facing the Nets for tź§‹he first time since his contract was bought out and he signed with the Heat, Johnson had an understated game but still helped šŸŒ„the Heat to a 110-99 win Monday night. He got plenty of help from Wade and Hassan Whiteside, underscoring just how far apart Johnsonā€™s old team is from his new one.

ā€œIt šŸŒŸwas surreal. Itā€™d been a long time since Iā€™d played against him. ā€¦ It was very weird,ā€ sšŸ…°aid Brook Lopez, whose team-high 26 points went to waste. ā€œIā€™m happy for him, happy for the situation heā€™s in. He seems to be enjoying it. [I] obviously wish him all the best luck. Wish we couldā€™ve got a win against them.ā€

The Nets couldnā€™t, despite facing a Heat team without GošŸŒŒran Dragic or Chris Bosh. Wade torched them as usual, with a game-high 30 points and nine assists. He posted up, set up like a point-forward on the elbow, ran the attack as a lead guard, abused Sergey Karasev ā€” did almost everything.

WhašŸŒŸt little he didnā€™t, Whiteside šŸ…ŗ(27 off the bench) and Johnson (seven assists, four rebounds) did.

ā€œIā€™m fond of Joe Johnson,ā€ interim coach Tony Brown said. ā€œHe helped our young guys as the season progressed. šŸ…Heā€™s the ultimate professional, and I wish him nothing but success going forward.ā€

He just would have preferred the Nets (21-52) had the success Monday. They were within 6ź§‚9-65 when Miami seized the momentuā›Žm with a 9-0 run.

Wade found Justise Winslow for a dunk, then Whiteside hit a turnaround jumper. Wade stripped Bojan Bogdanovic ašŸˆnd went the other way for a layup. After Sean Kilpatrick lost the ball to Luol Deng, Winslow capped the run with a 3-pointer for a 78-65 cushion with 3:16 left in the period.

The rest was academic.

ā€œIt almost looked like [Wade] was a buź©µlly down there. ā€¦ We had no answer for him,ā€ Brown said, š“€adding of Whiteside, ā€œIā€™d love to be his agent right now.ā€

Still, with Johnson 11-4 as a starter for Miami (43-30) since his Feb. 27 arrivź¦al, this is one of those situations where everybody wins.

Johnsonź§‘ is averaging 12.8 points per game, on 51.4 percent shooting and 48 percent from dešŸƒep for Miami which is en route to its ninth straight postseason. Meanwhile, the Nets have given minutes to their young wings like Bogdanovic and Karasev.

ā€œWe have to approach every game like itā€™s aį€£ Game 7,ā€ Johnson said. ā€œThis is the most fun time of the season, gearing up for the postseason. šŸŒ Thatā€™s where I wanted to get to.ā€

Johnson wasnā€™t going to get there with Brooklyn, where he spent šŸ’parts of four seasšŸŒ³ons, but the team was rebuilding, he wasnā€™t happy with his play, and it was time for all parties to go their separate ways.

ā€œIt was touź¦°gh,ā€ Johnson said. ā€œšŸ’ƒBut at the end of the day, we play this game for the love of it. You really have to respect the game, regardless of the circumstances.ā€

From Brown to LošŸƒpez, the Nets said Johnson did just that.

ā€œFor me, I just learned so much from him,ā€ Lopź¦¦ez said. ā€œHe was the consummate professional.ā€

Winslow got shaken up when he hit the deck after šŸ™ˆLopez rejected his dunk attempt. But the ball bounced up in the air and fell through the rim anyway.šŸ”Æ Thatā€™s the kind of night it was for the Nets, which saw their streak of 100-point games snapped at seven.