NEW YORK _ Erik Spoelstra stood outside the Miami Heat locker room early Wednesday evening insisting the sky wasn't falling.
"We're not as far away as it looks," he said. "But that's what losing does."
Less than four hours later, Spoelstra did not have to talk about losing, but rather about resilience.
Getting contributions from just about every available player _ yes, even Udonis Haslem _ the Heat put together one of their better efforts of the season in a 120-107 victory over the Brooklyn Nets at Barclays Center.
Having made a habit of both building and blowing leads, the Heat stormed to an early 22-point advantage and played with the lead the entire night, with the Nets never leading.
Tyler Johnson led the Heat with 24 points, with Goran Dragic adding 21, Josh Richardson 15 and Hassan Whiteside 14.
Ultimately, the beauty was in the simplicity.
"We feel that we have enough experience to be able to close out these games better," Spoelstra said going in. "For us, it's a matter of simplifying, getting to our identity, defending the way we're capable of."
About the only moment of concern came midway through the fourth quarter, when the Nets trimmed what had grown to a 23-point deficit to 106-97 on a 3-pointer by former Heat first-round pick Shabazz Napier to draw within 106-97.
But Johnson then converted a pair of shots to make it academic.
