Nets beat new-look Heat for first post-trade deadline win

When compared and analyzed among the other wins the Nets secure this season, the bright spots amid a rebuilding campaign defined more by exits and acclimations than the wins sprinkled in between, this one won’t go down as the smoothest.As the one with the best shooting percentages.

As the one where one of the stars took over and poured in career-best numbers.Instead, this — a 102-86 victory over the Heat at Barclays Center — featured sequences like the one with just over five minutes left that gave the Nets a seven-point lead.Cam Johnson fed Nic Claxton with a pass near the basket, but his layup bounced off.

So did Keon Johnson’s attempt at a tip-in off the rebound.The Nets needed Claxton, following up Johnson’s miss with a tip-in attempt of his own, to convert the third-chance basket.They needed stout defense, which held the Heat to just 35.6 percent shooting from the field and just nine points in the fourth quarter.Cam Johnson finished with 18 points, while D’Angelo Russell added 17 and Claxton added 12 points, 10 rebounds and four blocks.

The Nets got clutch baskets from their bench in key spots.They erased deficits and then built a convincing advantage of their own by the final minutes of the fourth quarter.

And on a day that started with the Nets nearing a buyout with polarizing point guard Ben Simmons to end his disappointing tenure, their defense helped secure their fourth win in five games.Even with the deadline arriving 3 p.m.Thursday, that still served as the backdrop to everything unfolding.

The Heat just dealt Jimmy Butler — suspended the last time these teams met on Jan.25 — to the Warriors in a multi-team blockbuster and are still waiting to acclimate Andrew Wiggins into their lineup.The Nets are approaching the end of the Simmons era, with a buyout nearing that would conclude a disastrous tenure stretching two-plus seasons.

He was away from the team and ruled out Friday morning.It didn’t take long — less than five minutes int...