Heat Look To Take Control Of Series With Hornets In Game 4
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CHARLOTTE (CBSMiami/SportsDirect) – The first round series between the Miami Heat and Charlotte Hornets has been a tale of two cities so far.
The Heat set a historic offensive pace in the first two games of their first-round series before crashing back to earth in Game 3.
The Hornets will try to put together back-to-back solid defensive efforts and even the series at two wins apiece when they host the Heat in Game 4 on Tuesday.
Miami scored a franchise playoff-record 123 points in a Game 1 win and followed it up with a 115-103 triumph in Game 2, but the Hornets turned up the defense and held the Heat to 34.2 percent from the field in a 96-80 triumph on Saturday.
The victory snapped a 14-year drought between playoff wins for Charlotte franchises, though the team was focusing on the future instead of the past.
"This isn't about winning one playoff game, it's about winning a playoff series," Hornets coach Steve Clifford told reporters. "This gives us a chance."
Miami will need to make an adjustment after Charlotte went to a bigger lineup and pushed its way to the win up front.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, NBATV, FSN Sun (Miami)
ABOUT THE HEAT: Miami burned the Hornets in the first two games by putting Luol Deng at power forward but were on the receiving end of some physical play in Game 3.
"They went really big and caught us off guard," Heat center Hassan Whiteside told reporters. "We were prepared for Al Jefferson to post up, but they posted up on our guards. They got us into foul trouble, and that was tough. But we know what they do now. We know what they're looking for and we can hone in on that. Now we know what their different lineups are going to look like."
Whiteside left Saturday's game in the fourth quarter with a quad bruise before sitting out practice on Sunday and is considered questionable for Game 4.
ABOUT THE HORNETS: Charlotte lost starting guard Nicolas Batum to an ankle injury in Game 2 but instead of inserting another guard into the lineup for Game 3 went big with 7-foot center Frank Kaminsky.
The rookie only attempted one field goal in a combined 37 minutes in the first two games but finished with 15 points in 35 minutes in Game 3.
"He just kept playing," Clifford told reporters of Kaminsky. "He had the right attitude. Playing basketball is no different than anything else. You have the right attitude, you give yourself a chance to get going when things don't go your way."
BUZZER BEATERS
- Batum (ankle) was upgraded to questionable for Game 4.
- Whiteside is averaging 17 points, 14 rebounds and three blocks in the series.
- Charlotte F Marvin Williams collected 12 points and 14 rebounds in Game 3 after totaling two points on 1-of-17 shooting in the first two games.
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