The Charlotte Hornets earned a chance to close to close out the Heat by taking a 3-2 lead in Game 5.
The Charlotte Hornets pulled through in Game 5 in Miami90-88. As the score suggests it was not easy and the game was hard fought to the very end. The game featured clutch play from several individuals and the return ofNicolas Batum.
After playing five games in a series, it is hard to find new wrinkles to throw at each other. The result was an ugly first half of basketball at times. The Hornets finally built up a lead only for it to disappear, and then they were forced to follow suit in the fourth quarter. Over a minute and a half of hectic basketball they pulled it out.
Courtney Leewas right in the middle of it. He appeared to have a layup that would get the Hornets a lead late in the fourth but it was missed. Maybe it should have been goaltending onDwyane Wadeand maybe it shouldn’t have been, but the fortunately the game did not end on that possession.
After stifling the Heat for a full shot clock, the Hornets brought the ball back up andKemba Walkerattempted one of those big shots that he likes to take. The jumper missed but Lee came up with the rebound and made a three pointer of his own to gain the Hornets what began the winning margin.
That’s right the series is currently turning on a pair of Courtney Lee offensive rebounds.
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If last night was the Courtney Lee game of the series, at least one person could dispute that.Marvin Williamshad his best performance of the series with seventeen points to lead the scoring. He once again started at the three position in the Hornets big lineup since Batum was going to be limited to the bench.
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Batum did play, getting eight points and three assists in twenty-five minutes of action.
The Hornets survived a big scoring night by Wade (25 points) withLuol Deng(16 points) andJoe Johnson(13 points) offering the most help. The Hornets were outscored in the paint and in fast break points.
Yet they won the game and they have 3-2 lead with the opportunity to close out the series in Charlotte on Friday night. This is what they needed, a win at Miami, if they were going to get out of this series and on to the next. Now they need to make sure that they don’t need two wins in Miami in order to get this done.
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