Charlotte Hornets Beat Heat 96-89
170. Final. 89. 110. 96
Did you know that the Charlotte Hornets had never beaten the Miami Heat in the last 16 tries? I did not until I read Steve Reed of the Associated Press’ write up of the Hornets’ victory against the Heat. Heat injuries very much played into the game. Chris Andersen did not play and Josh McRoberts was limited in action, meaning that Shawne Williams saw major action. No one ended up being a good matchup for Big Al.
More from Charlotte Hornets
- Charlotte Hornets: Return would have provided valuable experience
- Charlotte Hornets: Regrading the 2010 NBA Draft
- Charlotte Hornets win what could be final game of the season
- Charlotte Hornets: Tank now or buzz towards the playoffs?
- Charlotte Hornets travel to face Pistons with focus on the future
Big Al went twenty-eight points and ten rebounds on the combination of folks that tried to stop him. The Codysaurus also took advantage of the weakness in the paint and scored 13 points off the bench. Kemba Walker added eighteen points and seven assists.
Lance Stephenson had another off shooting performance, but he did pull down thirteen rebounds to lead the Hornets in that category.
Wins over the Heat are important, because the Heat are one of several Southeastern Division opponents that can give somebody trouble. The Hornets still need to gel together, and it looks like Coach Steve Clifford is reducing the rotation in order to help that happen.
Live Feed
FanSided
For the Miami Heat, this was the Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh show. Wade used a variety of poor matchups to score twenty-five points. If Michael Kidd-Gilchrist had been healthy, it is likely that Lance Stephenson would have had responsibility for Wade. Right now, Stephenson was at the three and primarily covered Luol Deng.
Bosh had twenty-three points against the interior defense of the Hornets. This could be an issue of concern after back to back performances from Bosh and Anthony Davis. There aren’t any real answers since Bismack Biyombo has not left the bench and there is no other real size on the court. This could be a Noah Vonleh thing, but he must not be 100% yet.