Paul Pierce scored 17 of his 29 points in the third quarter as the Brooklyn Nets continued their mastery over reigning NBA champions Miami Heat with a nail-biting 96-95 win on Wednesday.
The 36-year-old Pierce paced the offence for the Nets who have beat the Heat in all three meetings this season and break an eight-game losing steak at AmericanAirlines Arena.
Miami had the ball after a timeout with 3.5 seconds left, but Shaun Livingston knocked away a pass that was intended for LeBron James in front of the basket to ice the victory in front of a crowd of 19,616.
Pierce said two-time defending NBA champion Heat have lost their "fear factor."
"On that last play, we got the steal and let the clock run out," Pierce said. "We know when we play good team defence that we can beat them now.
"They used to have that fear factor. When we are on our game we can come in here and get a win."
Pierce spent his first 15 NBA seasons with the Boston Celtics who drafted him 10th overall in the 1998 entry draft.
Pierce came to the Nets this season as part of a blockbuster trade between Boston and Brooklyn that also saw the Nets get Kevin Garnett and Jason Terry.
Both previous wins over the Heat this season were in New York with Brooklyn edging the Heat 101-100 on November 1 as part of their 5-14 start and then won 104-95 in double overtime on January 10.
