However, the Hornets adjusted, and now they are making the Heat pay in other ways.
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The series will head back to Miami for a fifth game on Wednesday with a scheduled start time of 8:00 p.m.
Walker scored 34 points, including 11 straight in a key stretch in the fourth quarter.
“I told Kemba to take us home”, Lin said.
The Hornets struggled to get going in the first quarter, feeding the ball to Al Jefferson and stalling the offense, but Lin brought instant offense off the bench.
Jeremy Lin scored 18 points, Walker had 17 points and 7 assists, Marvin Williams shook off his recent shooting woes and finished with 12 points and 14 rebounds. You’ve watched them all year, down 15, we’re in the game, up 15, they take the lead. They lost their point guard, leader and best player, too. We’ll see if he continues to complain about calls or if Charlotte can keep the upper hand by playing smarter than the Heat. “You know how he is, he is just so confident late in the game”. Ultimately, the Hornets came away with a 96-80 victory in Game 3 without Nicolas Batum, who is now sidelined with an ankle injury, in the lineup.
The Hornets began the third quarter on a 9-0 run to build a huge 57-39 lead just three minutes into the second half. “That’s what I’m known for”. I just want to be as aggressive as possible.
It was a game of wild momentum swings as the Hornets trailed by 11 early but took control by outscoring the Heat 29-13 in the second quarter.
Much like Game 3, the Charlotte Hornets used a big run to separate themselves from the Miami Heat in the third quarter. He ran back down the court and offered a shrug similar to the one the team’s owner, Michael Jordan, once gave in 1992. Lee was fouled on the rebound and swished both shots with 4.6 seconds left to make it a two-possession game.
Jonas Valanciunas led Toronto with 16 points, but star guards Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan could not get going, with Lowry scoring 12 before he fouled out and DeRozan managing only eight points. Goran Dragic is dishing 5.3 assists and Luol Deng is grabbing seven rebounds.
Wade made 50% of his shots as he could not be stopped throughout the game as Miami’s impressive scoring continued as they made 58% of their field goals, and 56% from the three point line. At the same time, regression to the mean hit Miami hard.
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“It felt more like throwback, old-school Eastern Conference basketball”, Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “In this league, you get up in the morning, you say, ‘Who’s good to play today?’ and you play the best you can with that team”.
