Part of the reason that Brooklyn found it tough to hang in there is due to their defense struggling to contain Tyler Herro, who piled up 25 points and eight assists in the contest. With that being said, here are the Nets player grades following Saturday's loss to the Heat:

On Vince Carter's jersey retirement night, Brooklyn couldn't overcome the Jimmy Butler-less Miami Heat, falling 106-97. D'Angelo Russell led the Nets with 22 points and six assists, but a joint 42-point effort by Tyler Herro and Haywood Highsmith all but neutralized his output.

Ben Simmons and D'Angelo Russell's statuses for Saturday's Nets-Heat matchup are unclear amid a losing streak.

After missing most of last season and the beginning of this season, Los Angeles Lakers forward Jarred Vanderbilt has finally been medically cleared to play. In

Russell finished Saturday's 106-97 loss to Miami with 22 points (6-13 FG, 4-8 3Pt, 6-6 FT), one rebound, six assists, two blocks and two steals over 26 minutes.

Erik Slater: D’Angelo Russell on adjusting to his role with the Nets after his trade from the Lakers: "I'll never take being able to play free basketball like this for granted again."

After the Los Angeles Lakers traded Russell, Maxwell Lewis and three second-round picks to the Nets last month in exchange for Dorian Finney-Smith and Shake Milton, he dropped 22 points off the bench in his season debut with Brooklyn in a 130-113 loss to the Toronto Raptors on Jan. 1.

Russell is in the Nets' starting lineup against the Heat on Saturday, C.J. Holmes of the New York Daily News reports. Russell did not play against the Suns on Wednesday due to personal reasons, but he will return Saturday and enter the Nets' starting five.

Russell has reached the playoffs on four different occasions, and he's still seeking his first NBA title. His longest postseason run came in 2023, when the Los Angeles Lakers were eliminated in the Conference Finals.

In the crosstown rivalry game, New York nearly let up a fourth-quarter comeback, scoring just 15 points in the final 12 minutes. However, Brooklyn's 20 fourth-quarter points weren't enough. The Nets had relatively even scoring across the board,

Ahead of his first game against his former team since getting traded last month, Brooklyn Nets guard D'Angelo Russell commented Friday on how his second

D'Angelo Russell is looking forward to "moving on" as he faces the Los Angeles Lakers with the Brooklyn Nets on Friday.