The Heat’s roster is full of experienced players who have been a part of multiple playoff runs, something teams in the conference outside of Cleveland can’t really say. “We’ve got to bring the fight to them”.
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Dwyane Wade netted seven assists of his own, he and Joe Johnson used their savvy to connect for 27 total points in 26 minutes, each. The Hornets limited Whiteside to less than 10 points in two of the four outings during the regular season, but Whiteside eliminated any doubt about how he’d perform in the playoffs as he scored 21 points, 11 rebounds and three blocks. The Hornets, Pistons, and Trail Blazers will all be trying to avenge Game 1 defeats. “We all bleed, so there ain’t no reason to worry anybody, and that’s how he feels”.
Miami, whose 123 points was a franchise playoff record, was dominant in all facets of the contest, getting up 85 field goals to Charlotte’s 65 while converting on 58% of their attempts compared with the Hornets’ disappointing 43% conversion rate. “I think I just started liking him two months ago”, Dwyane Wade said of Deng. Miami shot 68.2 percent (15-of-22) from the field, 80.0 percent (4-of-5) from the field and was a flawless 7-of-7 from the charity stripe in its highest-scoring quarter in franchise history (41 points). Of course, that might not actually make a difference.To compound Charlotte’s issues, the Hornets couldn’t stop Miami all night.
Expect Hornets coach Steve Clifford to make adjustments-particularly having his big men fall back rather than show strong on the ball handler-in order to impede Whiteside’s road to the basket. The Hornets struggled to get going throughout the entire night, in fact they were never able to obtain the lead at any point during the game.
But Williams said he’s confident the Hornets’ defense will improve in Game 2 and that his shot will return to form. “It made us have a better understanding of what it takes to get stops and to score when times get stressful”.
For days, what had set up and still sets up as a competitive Heat-Hornets series has been cast as something different, just as the Mavericks were cast as stumblebums until Steven Adams took a shot that was a fraction of a second too late. Ultimately, it will be on the players to come out with better energy and try to steal a game in Miami. It was one of those games where the losers should probably just throw out the game tape. That’s what we’ve got to fix.
After a record-breaking blowout in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference first-round series, the Heat will go for their sixth straight postseason win over the Charlotte Hornets on Wednesday night in South Beach.
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And Chris Paul simply controlled Game 1, the Clippers outscoring the Blazers by 29 points in Paul’s 33 minutes of play. Going into this season, the front office and coach Steve Clifford put enormous emphasis on spreading the floor and shooting 3-pointers. Charlotte C Al Jefferson continued his reserve role in Game 1, and he finished with 13 points and five rebounds. Zeller had nine points and seven rebounds…. A sore left foot won’t keep Haslem from playing in the series, according to coach Erik Spoelstra said. It helps younger players like rookie Justise Winslow and less-experienced vets like Goran Dragic prepare for the drama and pressure of the playoffs.
