The Miami Heat just hosted the Brooklyn Nets for a final dress rehearsal before the 2026-27 season. For Mikel Brown Jr., it was also a milestone. After sitting out his team’s first three preseason contests with a rolled left ankle, MBJ played his first non-Summer League NBA minutes tonight.
Not to make it all about one guy, but when he’s your highest pick in since 2010 and it’s in a game that doesn’t count, his progression is mainly about what does.
“[We] just want him to play as hard as he can,” Jordi Fernández said pregame. “We’re excited. I’m very excited to see him.”
Be that as it may, Brown Jr. came off the bench tonight. That means our story starts with Julius Randle and the rest of the usual bunch.
Unlike Brooklyn’s last two games, things weren’t so smooth to begin this one. The Nets struggled to get anything going at the offensive end during the game’s opening minutes. As advertised all summer, Miami’s size was difficult to play around, even with Bam Adebayo sitting. The Heat tallied four rejections within the game’s first eight minutes. The Nets began the game 1-of-10 from the field.
At the other end, Day’Ron Sharpe also picked up three quick fouls trying to box out or defend Nick Richards. Let’s just pretend he knew the starters weren’t going be playing a lot of minutes tonight anyway.
Despite all those whistles, the game moved at a breakneck pace in the first as both teams looked to challenge each other on the break. Miami’s Davion Mitchell was especially ruthless in getting baseline to baseline, as was Andrew Wiggins, showing he’s still got it as a cutter.
So, with the ideal environment now established for a guy who can move, shoot, and pass, it was then time to unleash Brown Jr. Nolan Traoré and Chaney Johnson were first off the bench after Wagner’s premature entry for foul-prone Day’Ron Sharpe. Then, with 3:54 to go, Brown Jr. followed along side Noah Clowney.
It took MBJ only two possessions to get on the scoreboard with him making his first attempt of the night. Even with Steph Curry and Dame Lillard having normalized shots like this, I’d argue his first one was a highlight…
For those who watched him last year at Louisville, it shouldn’t have a surprise. Brown Jr. led the NCAA in made 3-pointers from long range, that is deeper than 25 feet sway, doing it 27 times.
It’s worth noting the Nets ran much of the offense through Nolan Traoré while he and Brown Jr. shared the floor in the first, although that likely had more to do with the team’s desire to ease Brown Jr. into the lineup than anything else. Fernández also confirmed pregame that the Nets would watch his minutes tonight. He finished with 18.
Brooklyn continued to trail Miami through the second. While shots started to fall at the other end, the team continued to look out of sync defensively. The Nets were especially putrid in transition, where the Heat got 11 first half points. Giannis Antetokounmpo was also just doing Giannis Antetokounmpo things. He tallied 18 points, 11 rebounds, five assists, and three blocks in 16 first half minutes while shooting 7-of-8 from the field.
The Nets, however, went into the half down only three, largely thanks to a redemptive burst from Sharpe and a handful of tough makes from Michael Porter Jr. Egor Dëmin also got his second drive-by of the preseason on a future Hall of Famer…
Brooklyn went ahead after Dëmin set up Sharpe for an easy floater roughly three and half minutes into the second half. The Nets also did a far better job getting back in transition during that stretch, disrupting what once looked like an automatic source of offense for Miami. Then. Sharpe picked up his fifth foul of the game and a seat on the bench with 6:06 left in the period. Once again playing the unfortunate role of little guys on the basketball court, Brooklyn saw Miami enjoy an 8-0 jolt to jump back in front.
On the bright side, Brown Jr. came back in to drop eight points and three dimes in the third. He didn’t record any turnovers for that quarter or the entire game. The 6’5” Florida (Orlando) native finished with 15 points, two assists, and two steals while shooting 4-7 from the field and 2-5 from downtown … all in 18 very active minutes…
“Yeah, I feel amazing,” Brown told The Post pre-game. “Very exciting because I’ve been waiting and itching to play for the longest to this point. So I’m glad to see all the work is paying off and just continuing to stay on it and remain healthy.
“[I’d been doing] strength work, getting the strength in the ankle back, strengthening the muscles around it. I’ve been attacking it every single day. Just to be able to just go out there and just go play basketball again, it’s going to mean the world.”
After the game, his coach told the media liked what he had seen.
“(I liked) his pace and how he moves,” said Fernandez. “He looked great. And it’s just the first few minutes. He’s gonna continue to get better & build from there. I love his communication, how engaged he was with his teammates.”
Brooklyn still hung around early in the fourth, helped by Wagner who made his third triple of the game in as many tries. And, down nine with eight to go, they even brought Randle and Porter Jr. back into the game but it was a fruitless.
The Nets simply couldn’t capitalize. Miami’s deep bench, with little left to lose and everything to prove, did. Led by Simone Fontecchio, they quickly put Miami up 16 with roughly six to go.
After that, even Fernández, ever the competitor, had to admit the risk of leaving his starters on the floor wasn’t worth whatever message an undefeated preseason might send. With about five to play, he put Grant Nelson and Drake Powell into the game for their first minutes. They played with Josh Minott, Danny Wolf, and Traoré the rest of the way.
“[The problem was] just defense. I mean, it was a very poor defensive game,” Fernández admitted. “[It’s the] second time that we’ve given up in one half 70 points — 69 in the first half, 75 in the second. That’s unacceptable. And if we want to be a competitive team, we have to play better defense than that.”
The worst of it was easy to spot mainly because it has been a weakness long discussed … rim protection. The Nets were outscored a staggering 62-38 in the paint, allowing 31-of-40 shooting.
Porter Jr. led the Nets with 27 points while shooting 9-of-17 from the field and 4-of-8 from deep, draining one tough shot after another. Dëmin followed with 17 points and three assists while shooting 5-of-12 from the field and 4-of-7 from deep. Randle tied Brown Jr. with 15 points, picking up five assists and five boards in the process. Traoré quietly enjoyed another solid evening with an 12/5/2 line, never relenting in his speed game.
The Nets fell 144-128, but that final score mattered less than everything that came before it. It was another night when the players Brooklyn needed to see thrive did, and that’s all you can ask for in an exhibition. Nobody got hurt, too.
So, while not a perfect preseason in one sense, it was as in another.
Final: Miami Heat 144, Brooklyn Nets 128
Next Up
We’re back (for real) one week from today, with Brooklyn beginning the regular season at home vs the Charlotte Hornets on October 21st. The Nets haven’t won a season opener since the 2020-21 campaign, when a starting lineup featuring Kyrie Irving, Spencer Dinwiddie, Joe Harris, Kevin Durant, and DeAndre Jordan smoked the Golden State Warriors by 26 points.
With Kon Knueppel likely out due to a hamstring injury, Brooklyn has a fair shot to break that streak on Wednesday. The game tips off at 7:30 p.m. EST.
- Boxscore: Miami Heat 144, Brooklyn Nets 128 – NBA.com
- Game Highlights: Miami Heat 144, Brooklyn Nets 128 (Video) – NBA.com
- Nets end preseason on sour note in ugly loss to Heat as defense struggles – Brian Lewis – New York Post
- Nets’ top 2026 draft pick Mikel Brown Jr. makes long-awaited NBA debut after ankle injury – Brian Lewis – New York Post
