They have a great coach.- The Heat sent the Hornets to the line for 28 free throw in the first half, the most ever in a plaayoff first half in Heat history.
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The Heat will look to build on their momentum in Game 2 of the series, which will take place on Wednesday night in Miami.
This was largely thanks to the combination of Luol Deng and Hassan Whiteside, who finished with 52 points and 18 rebounds between them. Compare this to the 35.3 percent from the arc and 43.1 percent overall for the Hornets, it’s pretty obvious where the Heat got their big lead. “I don’t necessarily feel like Luol is going to be the guy to go in there and score 31 on every single night of the series”, Williams said. The frontcourt combination of Al Jefferson and Frank Kaminsky was an absolute disaster defensively, letting Miami slashers get to the rim at will, and rotations to the corners to guard Heat shooters were often way too late. There were times throughout the game that it just looked like the HEAT were playing with more energy and hustle than the Hornets.
The final points total topped the 121 the team scored in the deciding game of the 2012 NBA Finals against Oklahoma City.
“We just got manhandled”, Charlotte coach Steve Clifford said. It wouldn’t be ideal to change something like the starting line-up after just one game but if the trends continue from game one, then Clifford may be forced to make a change. “We got to regroup ourselves”. And further making it seem like it was a Pistons’ opportunity missed, Detroit fell to 13-2 this season in games where it shot 49 percent or better.
Nicolas Batum scored 20 of his 24 points in Sunday’s first half, and leading scorer Kemba Walker finished with 19 but sat out most of the fourth quarter with the game out of reach. Kemba Walker added 19 in his fifth career playoff game, all of them against Miami and all of them losses. We’ve got to be earlier with our talk, better with our organization, be more physical, ready to play. “This may be a good lesson for us”. And the Heat took full advantage of that home-court edge.
“Our offense wasn’t the problem”, Clifford said.
Charlotte has now lost nine consecutive playoff games as they were swept in 2010 by the Orlando Magic, and were also swept by the HEAT two years ago during their last appearance in the postseason. That will be different things, different nights.
“They played as good a game as they’ve played in a while”, Portland guard Damian Lillard said of the Clippers. He was also able to convert 4-of-6 from three-point range as well. “I appreciate the fact that I’m back in [the postseason]”.
Much of last season was hard to watch, but Heat fans stuck it out to the end. But the Heat will have to make the in-game adjustments to excel in this game. The Spurs won Game 1 by 32 points.
Deng was on fire against Charlotte, knocking down an assortment of jumpshots including four three pointers. Here are three keys that can help them turn the series around.
That’s a stark contrast from his average of 11.7 points 6.4 rebounds this season.
To say the Heat hold an edge in playoff experience would be an understatement.
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Charlotte, meanwhile, is still searching for its first playoff victory since topping the then-New Jersey Nets in Game 3 of a second-round series in 2002. Charlotte’s players in uniform had 1,825 points in 237 games.
