Observations and other notes of interest from Saturday night’s 110-95 loss to the Brooklyn Nets:

— This, believe it or not, was not the stuff of nightmares, even if it did mean a fourth consecutive loss.

— The nightmare would be an opening-round playoff series for the Heat against the Nets.

— They certainly aren’t stopping Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving.

— And it’s not as if they can outscore them.

— The Heat’s opening-round playoff opponent will otherwise be Chicago, Toronto, Cleveland or perhaps Atlanta.

— The answer at the moment is “all of the above” when it comes to the playoff choice in the first round.

— That could make No. 4 the safest first-round playoff spot, against Toronto, Chicago or Cleveland.

— And if the Heat do wind up in the No. 4-No. 5 in the opening round, and if the Nets wind up at No. 7 after the opening play-in game, it would mean no Heat-Nets until the East finals.

— Not that there wouldn’t be a daunting path along the way.

— (Anything appears dauting at this point.)

— But it would beat facing Durant-Irving (and Ben Simmons).

— And that’s not even getting into getting punked in this one by Andre Drummond.

— This was not like the losses to the shorthanded 76ers, Warriors and Knicks.

— This was losing to the better team.

— And it’s not as if Victor Oladipo at the moment is inspiring secret-weapon thoughts.

— And it’s not as if Markieff Morris is even figuring into the mix.

— It again was Bam Adebayo, Jimmy Butler, Kyle Lowry, P.J. Tucker and Duncan Robinson at the start for the Heat.

— All but Adebayo and Lowry had been listed as questionable going in.

— The Nets opened with Durant, Irving, Bruce Brown, Seth Curry and Drummond.

— Brooklyn entered 2-1 with that starting five.

— Tucker opened defensively on Durant, with Lowry opening defensively on Irving.

— And the Heat typically switching just about everything.

— Lowry was called for his second foul with 5:05 left in the first, and remained in the game.

— After two games away due to knee pain, Tyler Herro was back as sixth man.

— That helped.

— Oladipo, back from back spasms, then entered alongside Dewayne Dedmon and Caleb Martin.

— Once Tucker went out, Butler took the defensive assignment on Durant.

— The upshot was Morris being shuffled out of the rotation.

— As well as Max Strus.

— It opened as another foul-a-thon for the Heat, putting the Nets in the bonus with 9:15 left in the second period.

— Saturday’s game featured a tribute to former Heat guard Goran Dragic, who is now with the Nets.

— Quinn said that made it a special night.

— “No question,” he said. “I know, personally, I worked very closely with G and have very fond memories. One of the best point guards to put on the jersey. So, yeah, any time we get to see him, we love seeing him. Obviously. we don’t love seeing him on the other team, but it’s always good to be around someone of that caliber.”

— Nets coach Steve Nash said the tribute during the game’s first timeout was a nice touch.

— “I have the utmost respect for him as the type of person and competitor that he is,” Nash said. “Well deserved. All the successes and his time here in Miami was very special. So it’s fitting that he would be shown that type of respect this evening.”

— Quinn said the team reviewed its late-game struggles ahead of Saturday’s game.

— “It’s a challenge we’re working through,” he said. “Obviously lately it hasn’t been good, and our guys are trying to figure it out, as well, keeping the ball moving throughout the game, while also getting our best players the ball in their hands to make plays for our team. We have a lot of unselfish guys, guys who like to make plays for each other. So just keeping that going consistently.”

— The Heat entered 3-0 against the Nets.

— “I think they just have such a great system here and history here,” Nash said. “Their continuity, they are such a well-oiled machine. The way they compete. The way they defend. The way that they play together and where their standards are. They are not going to beat themselves and I think that’s a great sign of a team, an organization, culture that has really built something.”

— Nash added, “I think that more than anything is just how solid they are and how competitive they are.”

— Saturday was the first time the Nets had both Durant and Irving available against the Heat.

— “Whenever we get the guys together like this, it’s just important that we make the time to work, get better and improve,” Nash said.

— The Nets well could wind up as a Heat first round opponent.

— “We are where we are,” Nash said, “so we have to play what’s in front of us. And for us, that’s likely the play-in game, and all that matters is that we are as prepared and as far enough forward as we can possibly be in the short amount of time to play well in the play-in game.”

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