While Kemba Walker certainly seemed hellbent on making that reality, Heat veteran and superstar Dwyane Wade had other plans for the future of their series.
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The Hornets are aiming for their first playoff series win since 2002 after beating the Heat three straight times since going down 2-0 in this series. Nicolas Batum, who missed Games 3 and 4 with an ankle and foot injury, played just 14 minutes before leaving the game with a left foot strain.
For the Hornets, Walker was simply sensational, scoring the last 12 points for Charlotte before an Al Jefferson layup that brought the game to 93-90. The Heat will rise and fall with its franchise cornerstone Wade and shutting him down will be step number one for Lee and the Hornets if they want to pull off a tough Game 7 victory in Miami and advance to the Eastern Conference Semifinals.
Wade isn’t a 3-point shooter. Wade hit his first three-pointer since December to keep the lead at 90-81 with 3:05 remaining. The Heat switched matchups to confuse Lin, attacked Kaminsky with Deng, swarmed Williams whenever he was remotely open behind the three-point line and rendered Game 5 hero Courtney Lee invisible.
The Miami Charlotte game tonight gets underway shortly after the Toronto Indiana game does, though this one gets wider TV coverage on ESPN. Rather than crashing the board to contest the Heat for rebounds, the Hornets got back and made sure to get set in its half-court defense, rather than let the Heat beat them down the floor. “Of course I wish it had gone our way, but they just made great plays down the stretch and they deserved to win”.
“The rebounding game was a big problem and those are the things we’ll have to do better Sunday”, added Clifford after witnessing his team get out-rebounded 46-31 in Game 6, per the Hornets’ official Twitter feed.
“I played basketball. I understand the game, so I point out fundamentals to them and just stupid stuff”, Deason explained. Miami’s center swatted four shots in the first half and keyed a 20-7 run that gave Miami a 13-point lead.
A superb second half from Paul George’s Indiana Pacers saw them level their NBA Playoff series against the Toronto Raptors.
At the end of the third that gap had been reduced to five points. Much like during the regular season, both teams have won on the road in the series. Deng and Wade led the way, combining for 29 points on 13-of-19 shooting and the Heat outrebounded the Hornets 23-11. Cody Zeller added 12 points off of the bench. At the half, the Heat led 59-50, but in the playoffs, the lead’s not secure until the final buzzer sounds.
Wade’s wife had suggested after Wednesday’s game that officials who make mistakes should be fined and their records of missed calls made public. They were 5 of 17 in Game 6 and have connected at less than 30 percent in four games, including 1 of 16 in Game 2.
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Although Wade dug deep to carry the load when he had to, capped by a block of Walker at the rim, the Heat had to band together early to avoid potential disaster. It’s going to be a battle just like this whole series.
