The Miami Heat and Charlotte Hornets meet up in a crucial Game 5 tonight at 8PM ET.
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This time, Lee went right back up and hit his game-deciding 3-pointer. Wade doesn’t necessarily have to do that, but he needs to lead the way just like James did in 2012.
Head to head, the home team is 4-0 ATS in the last four meetings and the over is 19-7 in the last 26 meetings in Miami. The Hornets finished with five 3s in the first quarter for a 28-25 lead, and were holding a 12-point edge when the margin reached 40-28 midway through the second.
Officiating aside, as the series returns to Miami for Game 5, Whiteside will have to figure out how to be productive like he was the first go-round there when he shot 17-for-21.
Charlotte hasn’t won a road playoff game in a long time, if they can’t slow the Heat down tonight, it looks like it could be another year added to that.
With the Heat defense focused on shutting off shooters, Charlotte, which hoisted the fourth-most 3-pointers in the National Basketball Association on average in the regular season, has made a big effort to attack the paint. G Courtney Lee is the only Hornets player with NBA Finals experience, having played for the 2009 Orlando Magic. If Lin can continue to torch Miami’s bench, then the Heat are in trouble. Miami made one of eight. He wasn’t 100% healthy but he did make some clutch shots down the stretch including two three’s in the fourth quarter. Luol Deng would respond with a 3-pointer of his own, and from that point it would be back and forth, with Lee’s 3-pointer at the end capping off the victory.
What’s more, the Hornets overcame a 4-18 shooting performance from Kemba Walker, whose shooting mirrored the rest of the team, as he was 3-5 from the 3-point line but just 1-13 from inside the arc. He is averaging 14.5 points in the last two games, shooting only 35.5% from the field and finding it more hard to take players into the paint and dominate them.
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Whiteside (eight points, seven rebounds) failed to record a double-double on Monday for the first time in the series. Spencer Hawes also played well in the 1st half, making plays on offense and providing key stops on defense, including a block on Justice Winslow. “I just want to play as much as I can and as effectively as I can”. In Game 3, Miami’s raw eFG% fell to 38.6 percent, which is bad and about what you’d expect if you’d watched a second half in which the team scored just 36 points. Courtney Lee was able to make the game winning shot for Charlotte in this one.
