An analysis of Thursday night’s Miami Heat-Brooklyn Nets

Observations and other notes of interest from Thursday night’s 122-115 victory over the Brooklyn Nets:

– He doesn’t jump the highest or run the fastest.

– But Kevin Love seizes moments.

– Always has. Did again on Thursday night, as he filled the box score.

– When the season began, Thomas Bryant was the Heat backup center of choice.

– Pat Riley noted the Bryant signing as the Heat’s answer to their lack of size in last season’s NBA Finals.

– That made it starting-power-forward-or-bust for Love.

– Or so it seemed.

– Instead Love, for all his defensive limitations, has made it work in reserve behind Bam Adebayo.

– Taking charges where other big men might go for blocks.

– Sort of Kelly Olynyk 2.0, in that regard.

– Just when it appeared as if the clock was running out on Love, a revival.

– Jimmy Butler handled the scoring Thursday night.

– But Love was the catalyst.

– It also was welcome-back Caleb Martin night for the Heat.

– Martin had not played since the opener, due to knee pain.

– “He’s been working, obviously,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “That’s probably the one positive throughout all of this. I know it was frustrating for him, and he kept on wanting to get back out there soon.”

– Maintenance is the next step.

– “Hopefully we can just keep him going,” Spoelstra said. “We’ll just be as intelligent as we possibly can with it.”

– Having shown a quality of depth during the just-completed 4-0 trip, Spoelstra said Martin further bolsters that depth.

– “I think everybody’s excited about it, because he brings an element of what we’re doing, and it’s on steroids,” Spoelstra said. “He’s fast, multi-positional, it’s quick-twitch, and that’s on both sides of the floor. He just fills in a bunch of different gaps that you can’t really teach or scheme against. It just fits exactly where we’re doing of late.”

– It again was a Heat starting lineup of Adebayo, Haywood Highsmith, Jimmy Butler, Duncan Robinson and Kyle Lowry.

– Again inactive for the Heat were Tyler Herro, Cole Swider, Jamal Cain and R.J. Hampton.

– Herro was in the locker room pregame walking without his walking boot that was positioned in front of his locker.

– The Heat opened 0 for 7.

– Their start was further compounded by two Highsmith fouls in the opening 4:14.

– The Heat then fell to 1 of 11 from the field.

– Love and Jaime Jaquez entered as the Heat’s first substitutes.

– Josh Richardson then followed.

– Richardson’s first 3-pointer tied Max Strus for 11th on the Heat all-time list.

– This time, no Bryant in the rotation.

– Or Dru Smith.

– The Nets entered having won five in a row over the Heat, as well as four in a row in Miami, the longest such active streak by a visiting team.

– Spoelstra had no interest in such statistics pregame.

– “I’m not gonna concede that. This is competition; we got to figure it out,” he said. “Whether they think they’ve handled us easily or whatever, I don’t know where that’s coming from.”

– The game was the second of three matchups against the Nets over a 25-day span. The Nets won Nov. 1 at Kaseya Center and the Heat play Nov. 25 at Barclays Center. The final game of the four-game season series is Jan. 15 in Brooklyn.

– Nets coach Jaque Vaughn entered with respect for the winning streak the Heat brought into the night.

– “Their ability to defend at a high level, cause havoc on the defensive end of the floor, really playing scrappy basketball,” he noted.

– Vaughn added, “I just think when you play a Heat team, you know what you’re going to get – their ability to play extremely hard, extremely well coached, no ‘give up’ in their group.”