To explain why this best-of-seven series is now tied at 2-2 heading back to Miami for Game 5 on Wednesday, look no further than Monday’s backcourt breakdown. Charlotte guards Kemba Walker and Jeremy Lin combined for 55 points. Miami’s starting backcourt committed nine turnovers. But Dwyane Wade likes the Heat’s chances back in south beach.
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LOOK AHEAD
After the Hornets dropped the first two games of the series, team owner Michael Jordan and assistant coach Patrick Ewing approached coach Steve Clifford with a suggestion: Post up rookie 7-footer Frank Kaminsky more. The strategy worked in Game 3 as the Hornets snapped a 12-game playoff losing streak and earned their first postseason victory in 14 years.
Looking to combat Miami’s height advantage on the perimeter, Clifford moved Marvin Williams to small forward – in place of the injured Nicolas Batum – and inserted Kaminsky and Al Jefferson into the starting lineup. The trio combined for 37 points on Saturday and was reunited in Game 4, helping the Hornets dominate in the paint for a second straight game. Their play opened up the rest of the court allowing Kemba Walker, Courtney Lee and Jeremy Lin to inflict plenty of damage to even the series.
INJURIES
Batum sat out Monday’s game missing his second straight contest with a strained foot. His status for Game 5 remains in question. Coach Steve Clifford said before Monday’s game that Batum’s foot is “very, very weak.”
Heat guard Dwyane Wade left the floor in the third quarter on Monday to have his ankle re-taped, but returned without missing any of his planned playing time. Wade said he is fine. Hassan Whiteside started and played 25 minutes despite missing the team’s last two practices with a bruised thigh.
KEY MATCHUP
The Hornets went big to even the series, but it was the shortest player on the court who did most of the damage on Monday, allowing Charlotte to sweep its home set and send the teams back to Miami at 2-2. The lineup change worked in Saturday’s Game 3 with Charlotte’s big men dominating down low. And it was a good thing since leading scorer Kemba Walker made just 4 of 19 field goal attempts for 17 points.
With closer attention paid to Jefferson and Kaminsky down low, the outside opened up and Walker was there to take advantage. The difference was he made his shots on Monday. Thirteen of them to be exact, leading to a playoff career-high 34 points. Walker made just 36.1 percent of his shots in the first three games and connected on 13 of his 28 attempts on Monday. The Hornets were able to win Game 3 when Walker wasn’t at his best. They’ll have a better chance of winning the series if he is.
QUICK PICK
Through four games in this series, the Heat have proved to be two different teams. The version that throttled the Hornets in the first two games in Miami, racking up 238 points and setting or matching a few franchise records, never showed up in Charlotte. The Heat team that played the past two games struggled to score, routinely failed to protect the paint and made enough costly mistakes to get blown out in Game 3 on Saturday and squandered chances to potentially steal Game 4 on Monday.
Home court has obviously been a huge advantage in this NBA series and the Heat don’t have to play as well as they did in Games 1 and 2. They just have to play a bit better than they did in Games 3 and 4.
NBA Odds: Miami 105, Charlotte 97
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