Thanks to a dominant third quarter that included a 18-0 run, the Charlotte Hornets picked up their first win of their series against the Miami Heat.
Advertisement
“You have to give them credit”. “Wade and (Joe) Johnson, they’re so big and such good passers, we are really having trouble with that”.
Kemba Walker had 17 for Charlotte.
Kaminsky finished with 15 points, 13 of those in the third quarter when the Hornets outscored the Heat 26-14. Not only did he score 17 points, but was the primary defender on Paul George, and limited the Pacers star to 6-of-19-shooting in the 101-85 win. Action starts at 5:30 pm ET on Saturday, Apr. 23 and can be seen on TNT, SUN and C+D.Per Verrier, Hornets big man Al Jefferson does not expect Batum to be back this series, saying, “It looked bad when it happened, looking at his ankle now, it’s pretty bad”.
“We made a lot of mistakes”, Deng said.
Said Walker: “Throughout the first two games they just killed us on the glass, so we wanted to just box them [out]”.
Said McCollum: “We have had lapses and allowed them to get on runs”.
It didn’t help early on when Deng knocked down four 3-pointers in the first six minutes on Kaminsky.
“He brings a steadying influence, a leadership at all levels – even when he’s not on the floor”, Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said.
Kaminsky had 11 points in the period, including a turnaround jumper over Joe Johnson. The Hornets received a standing ovation at the end of the first quarter – for leading by a single point!
Two days ago, Charlotte Hornets associate coach Patrick Ewing approached head coach Steve Clifford with a suggestion about rookie Frank Kaminsky.
“When I woke up this morning, that was the first thing that I saw”, Kaminsky said.
“I’d think about posting Frank some”, Jordan told him. “That is why I always lean on him. They’re too well-coached, they’re too disciplined”, Clifford said. Now, coming home, they nearly certainly need to rally and win if they want any chance of advancing in the playoffs. Lin added four assists and a steal while committing no turnovers in Game 3 against Miami. “They are designated snipers, and that’s why we’ve got them”, James said.”These guys protected their home”, Walker said. “Our energy and enthusiasm is one of the best. We didn’t play well enough and we didn’t play with enough grit”.
In Game 1, Heat forward Luol Deng exploded for a game-high 31 points. Batum’s status for Game 4 remains up in the air.
Advertisement
Jonas Valanciunas led Toronto with 16 points, and Kyle Lowry and DeMarre Carroll each had 12. In the final 8:24, the Heat scored only seven more points. Toronto, which never led or tied the score, cut it to 57-42 at halftime, but couldn’t got closer than 11 in the second half. This is about winning a series. Heat point guard Goran Dragic missed six of eight shots while working with a new mouthguard as a result of a chipped tooth from Tuesday evening, but he moved his team into possessions with alacrity and finished with ten assists.
