LONDON -- Vince Carter headed out of Europe with two wins and a few new jokes in his repertoire.
Carter made three free throws in the final 10 seconds to help the New Jersey Nets hold on for a 94-92 win over the Miami Heat on Sunday in a preseason game played in front of a boisterous London crowd.
It was the Nets' second win over the Heat in four days, after a 100-98 in overtime victory in Paris on Thursday as part of the NBA's European preseason tour. But for New Jersey's new-look squad, the weeklong chance to get to know each other could prove to be even more important than the two close wins.
"With a new team like this, these are the situations you need," Carter said. "We have a good time on the bus going wherever we go. We have a bunch of comedians on the team, so we have a good time laughing and joking. That's probably the highlight of the trip because everywhere we go, something funny is going to happen. Especially from our rookies."
Carter finished with 19 points and Yi Jianlian added another 17 in his debut for the Nets (2-0) in a game that treated the British fans to a number of high-flying dunks but even more sloppy turnovers.
Marcus Banks had 19 points, and Dwyane Wade added 18 for the Heat (0-3), who fought back from a 19-point first-quarter deficit to push the game to the final seconds. Miami has not won a preseason game since 2006, after going 0-7 in exhibition contests last year before posting the league's worst record (15-67).
"These two close-game situations are invaluable for the younger players, and also the veteran guys," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. "But now as we move forward and we get back to Miami we really have to have a productive week."
Whether it was fatigue or the fact that the teams are still learning to play together, both sides struggled to keep possession of the ball and combined for 47 turnovers.
There were some highlights for the sold-out crowd at the O2 Arena, with Wade and rookie forward Michael Beasley providing the most memorable play midway through the fourth quarter.
After Banks made an emphatic block on Devin Harris, Wade led a fastbreak and sent a high pass to a soaring Beasley, who finished with a one-handed alley-oop dunk that drew the loudest cheers of the night.
"I threw it high on purpose," Wade said. "I wanted to see how high he can jump, and he showed me. It was a very athletic play."
That dunk gave Miami a 76-73 lead, but it wasn't enough to overcome its dismal first quarter, which included 11 turnovers.
"It took the air out of our sails at the beginning," Spoelstra said. "We couldn't get anything going."
New Jersey went on an early 17-0 run to lead 21-5 before Nets coach Lawrence Frank pulled his starters 6:50 into the first quarter. Carter scored eight of his team's first 12 points, including cutting along the baseline for a thunderous one-handed slam after taking a nifty bounce pass from Yi.
The Nets maintained a double-digit lead for most of the first half until the Heat went on a 14-5 run to close the second quarter, cutting its deficit to 50-47.
The teams stayed within four points of each other for most of the fourth quarter, and Carter made it 93-89 from the line with 9 seconds left before Banks put the Heat back within one with a 3-pointer at the other end. Carter then missed his second free throw after being fouled, but Miami lost the ball out of bounds with several players scrapping for the rebound with 1.2 seconds left.
Court-side celebrities for the game included hip-hop star Jay-Z -- a part-owner of the Nets -- French football player Djibril Cisse, and British 14-year-old Olympic diver Tom Daley.
Carter made three free throws in the final 10 seconds to help the New Jersey Nets hold on for a 94-92 win over the Miami Heat on Sunday in a preseason game played in front of a boisterous London crowd.
It was the Nets' second win over the Heat in four days, after a 100-98 in overtime victory in Paris on Thursday as part of the NBA's European preseason tour. But for New Jersey's new-look squad, the weeklong chance to get to know each other could prove to be even more important than the two close wins.
"With a new team like this, these are the situations you need," Carter said. "We have a good time on the bus going wherever we go. We have a bunch of comedians on the team, so we have a good time laughing and joking. That's probably the highlight of the trip because everywhere we go, something funny is going to happen. Especially from our rookies."
Carter finished with 19 points and Yi Jianlian added another 17 in his debut for the Nets (2-0) in a game that treated the British fans to a number of high-flying dunks but even more sloppy turnovers.
Marcus Banks had 19 points, and Dwyane Wade added 18 for the Heat (0-3), who fought back from a 19-point first-quarter deficit to push the game to the final seconds. Miami has not won a preseason game since 2006, after going 0-7 in exhibition contests last year before posting the league's worst record (15-67).
"These two close-game situations are invaluable for the younger players, and also the veteran guys," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. "But now as we move forward and we get back to Miami we really have to have a productive week."
Whether it was fatigue or the fact that the teams are still learning to play together, both sides struggled to keep possession of the ball and combined for 47 turnovers.
There were some highlights for the sold-out crowd at the O2 Arena, with Wade and rookie forward Michael Beasley providing the most memorable play midway through the fourth quarter.
After Banks made an emphatic block on Devin Harris, Wade led a fastbreak and sent a high pass to a soaring Beasley, who finished with a one-handed alley-oop dunk that drew the loudest cheers of the night.
"I threw it high on purpose," Wade said. "I wanted to see how high he can jump, and he showed me. It was a very athletic play."
That dunk gave Miami a 76-73 lead, but it wasn't enough to overcome its dismal first quarter, which included 11 turnovers.
"It took the air out of our sails at the beginning," Spoelstra said. "We couldn't get anything going."
New Jersey went on an early 17-0 run to lead 21-5 before Nets coach Lawrence Frank pulled his starters 6:50 into the first quarter. Carter scored eight of his team's first 12 points, including cutting along the baseline for a thunderous one-handed slam after taking a nifty bounce pass from Yi.
The Nets maintained a double-digit lead for most of the first half until the Heat went on a 14-5 run to close the second quarter, cutting its deficit to 50-47.
The teams stayed within four points of each other for most of the fourth quarter, and Carter made it 93-89 from the line with 9 seconds left before Banks put the Heat back within one with a 3-pointer at the other end. Carter then missed his second free throw after being fouled, but Miami lost the ball out of bounds with several players scrapping for the rebound with 1.2 seconds left.
Court-side celebrities for the game included hip-hop star Jay-Z -- a part-owner of the Nets -- French football player Djibril Cisse, and British 14-year-old Olympic diver Tom Daley.
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