#4) Miami Heat: January 10
This is how you halt a losing skid in style.
Entering this contest the Nets were losers of seven-straight and appeared like they were spiraling out of control after exceeding expectations for several weeks prior to when the losing streak began. Then, on January 10, a semblance of hope finally retook form: The Nets won, and Irving was returning to boot.
The gravity of this victory alone warranted an appearance on this list, but the actual game that was played was wildly entertaining.
Dinwiddie arguably had his strongest performance of the season, slicing and dicing through the Heat’s gaudy interior defense and accounting for a career-high 14 assists to just two turnovers in the win.
Likewise, this was Kurucs’ best game to date this season. He finished with 19 points on seven-of-nine shooting including four-of-five from distance.
After allowing a 12-point lead entering the half, the Nets turned it on in the third quarter and entered the final fray deadlocked at 99-99. What made this victory all the more sweeter was that the Nets had failed to close out Miami in a tightly-contested home game earlier this season but didn’t allow for a repeat performance.
They wound up fighting them off without the presence of Kyrie Irving in the dying moments of the fourth and held on.
Sitting at 17-20 at the time with the return of Irving slated for the following game, there was reason to be optimistic. Unfortunately, things wouldn’t exactly go according to plan from there on out, but at the time, this victory was incredible.