Kemba Walker of the Hornets drives against Miami Sunday.
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The Elias Sports Bureau notes that Deng was the first player to score at least 31 points and shoot 75 percent from the field in his playoff debut with a team since Charles Barkley did it for the Suns in 1993.
Miami scored 41 points in the first quarter to tie one franchise playoff record, set another with the 123 points – topping the 121 in the 2012 NBA Finals clincher against Oklahoma City – and never trailed.
The Miami Heat and Charlotte Hornets will face off in Game 1 at 5:30 PM on Saturday.
The Hornets will be looking to win their first game in the postseason since the 2001-2002 National Basketball Association season. “The one thing that you can always do is, you can always slow a game down in the NBA”, Clifford said.
ABOUT THE HEAT (48-34): Miami ended up losing 98-88 at Boston on Wednesday but quickly brushed aside what could have been a demoralizing loss and focused on the positives.
Deng was 4-of-6 on 3-pointers, including 4-of-5 from the corners. The 27-year-old Frenchman averaged career highs of 14.9 points and 5.8 assists in his first season with Charlotte and posted 14.8 points, seven rebounds and seven assists in four games against Miami.
Inexperience is a weakness for the Hornets but they have a glimmer of hope in this area with Courtney Lee on the team. Charlotte will swing home court advantage in their favor with a win in Miami. “He wants to help a team”.
“Some nights we’ll have opportunities to hit threes like these, but we’re built differently”, Miami coach Erik Spoelstra said. Whiteside averages 11.8 rebounds and 3.7 blocks per game. “It’s about contribution of winning plays”.
Due to this realization, players may attack Jeremy Lin and get away with it. Hassan Whiteside, for example, has 201 personal fouls and even received a flagrant one this season, along with Justise Winslow so Lin has to be prepared for his opponents to make more contact and be more aggressive while guarding him.
It was about the only time they couldn’t cheer all night. The Hornets’ best for any half this season was 29, in the second half at Brooklyn on November 18…. Goran Dragic is dishing 10 assists and Joe Johnson is grabbing six rebounds.
ABOUT THE HORNETS (48-34): Walker is at his best when Nicolas Batum is alongside in the backcourt, and Batum plans to be ready for Game 1 despite missing Wednesday’s finale with a sprained left ankle.
-Heat scored 41pts in the first quarter. He had eight points on 3 for 3 shooting…. Not saying the Hornets would have won the series if he didn’t get hurt, but they certainly would have been a better challenge to mighty Miami.A huge reason why Walker has taken a step forward as a player is because he has Batum helping him shoulder the shot creation burden. Miami took control of the game towards the very beginning by punching Charlotte straight in the mouth.
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He’s scored 20 or more points in 40 games this season, doubling last year’s total.
