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Continental Airlines Arena, East Rutherford, New Jersey. For the second time in eight days, the 2-1 Nets will face the 2-2 Miami Heat when they play on Friday. Last Friday in Miami, the Nets were defeated, 91-85, in a rematch against the team that knocked them out of the playoffs for the last two seasons.

The Nets got 27 points from Vince Carter, but it wasn't enough. More frustrating though was their incapacity to take advantage of a prolonged Dwayne Wade absence in the first half. Wade went to the bench with his third foul when the Nets were a sic point lead. Instead of making the most of it, the Nets failed six straight shots and turnover the ball four times. The Heat, led by Shaquille O'Neal’s 21 points, used a 13-5 run to claim a 43-41 lead at the halftime. Nenad Krstic scored 20 more for the Nets while James Posey hit a pair of monster three-pointers for Miami in the last 5 minutes.

The Nets last hosted the Utah Jazz on Wednesday night. To beat Utah, they needed to be nearly perfect. The Nets played a disciplined squad but were themselves well-organized after the Jazz cut what once was a 14-point lead to 1. New Jersey hung on with defense, and Vince Carter scored 13 of his 30 points in the fourth quarter after suffering a quadriceps injury for a 96-89 victory.

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Richard Jefferson, who had missed some practices with a sore ankle since the Nets last played Miami on Friday, scored 23 points, including 12 at the foul line. The Nets went to the line 40 times while the 27. Utah had six players in double-figures, including Carlos Boozer and Derek Fisher with 15 each. Not enough to beat the Nets at home.

Miami’s Dorell Wright, the first-round pick in 2004 out of South Kent (Conn.) Prep, put his impressive array of skills on display in the second quarter Tuesday against Seattle, impressing both Coach Pat Riley and the home crowd.

Early in the second quarter, the 6-7 youngster had a steal went coast-to-coast for a lay-up, got fouled and completed the three-point play. He pulled the same trick minutes later, and scored the three point play once more. A few minutes before Wright pursued Seattle guard Luke Ridnour down, soared high and blocked a breakaway lay-up. In order to display his passing, Wright had two sweet assists late in the quarter to Antoine Walker and threw down a dunk off an alley-oop pass from Dwyane Wade.

Wright, 20, finished the quarter with eight points (3-for-4 from the field; 2-for-2 from the line), two rebounds, three assists and a steal. James Posey hit a three-pointer with 19 seconds left and Dwyane Wade hit a pair of free throws with 3.6 seconds left to give Miami a 90-87 victory over Seattle at American Airlines Arena without Shaquille O’Neal. Shaq hurt his knee during the game on Friday against the Nets. Dorell Wright was the sparkplug for Miami, providing energy when the team was lethargic. Wade led all scorers with 31 points, 14 of those coming on free throws.

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