After running the Charlotte Hornets out of the building in Game 1, the Miami Heat took care of business again to take a 2-0 lead in the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs. The Hornets allowed the HEAT to shoot 57.6 percent from the field in Game 1 and 57.9 percent from the field in Game 2.
Advertisement
The Hornets say they will continue treating Batum and will re-evaluate his status before Game 4 Monday, also in Charlotte.
Could this be au revoir to the Charlotte Hornets’ postseason hopes?
“Despite the fact that we didn’t make threes, our offense is more than good enough to win”, he said after the second game.
Miami Heat guard Briante Weber, right, jokes with Josh Richardson (0) during a timeout in the second half of Game 2 of a first-round NBA basketball playoff series, Wednesday, April 20, 2016, in Miami. We might be splitting hairs a little as two of the attempts weren’t considered as controlled shots, but they still were aimed at the hoop.
Wade, who scored 20+ points for the 100th time in the playoffs, led the Heat with 28 points and eight assists.
After a franchise playoff-best first half of shooting, the Heat held on in the second half to protect home-court advantage and go up 2-0 in the best-of-seven series.
Batum injured the same ankle in Charlotte’s second-to-last game of the season against the Boston Celtics, but only missed the regular season finale, and has averaged a team-high 37.5 minutes per game so far this postseason. “We’re down 0-2, but we’re not out of it”.
After eight-for-ten shooting in the second quarter, Jefferson took only six shots in the second half.
Batum underwent an MRI on Thursday. The Hornets need to get their rhythm back if they intend to come back and win this series. “But we have been doing it all year – when one guy goes down the next guy steps up”. “He’s a great player and he would help us”. And defend they did, as Charlotte shot just 1-16 from the 3-point line. Tony Allen led Memphis with 12 points and Zach Randolph had 11 points and 12 rebounds.
That foul trouble made itself known late in the fourth quarter when Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra was forced to play forward Luol Deng at the five after Whiteside picked up his fifth foul. Perhaps, in a season regularly defined by comebacks, the Hornets could indeed be saving their best for last.
In a role reversal of sorts, the Heat thrived from downtown as Charlotte struggled.
Advertisement
With the Frenchman expected to miss the rest of the series, Charlotte is probably toast. He’s still the primary scorer, but the Heat have a defensive menace in Hassan Whiteside, multiple three-point shooters and two rookies playing like they’ve been here before.
