 Baron Davis scored 15 of his game-high 23 points in the second half. Victor Baldizon/NBAE/Getty Images 56k | 300k |
"We can't quit. We just can't quit," Heat guard Eddie Jones said. "Even up to the 12th man on the bench, we can't quit. We can turn it around any moment, all we need to do is get that first win and get more confidence."
After Thursday's loss in New York, Riley complained about the officiating, calling it "an absolute injustice." The Heat shot 26 free throws in this one, six more than the Hornets, but were not able to turn them into a win.
"Two nights in a row is very discouraging for the players because we're right there with an opportunity in the second half to win the game," Riley said. "It gets to crunch time and we miss 10 shots in a row. Some of the shots were good and some of them were bad. We played 42 to 44 minutes and let it get away. Were a very competitive team playing very, very hard, but not getting over the hump at the end when we need some big plays."
Miami has lost five in a row for the first time since January 8-15, 1996. A little over a month later, Riley made three trades involving 10 players that allowed him to build the Heat into a perennial contender.
The Heat again were without injured big men Alonzo Mourning and Brian Grant. Reserve center Sean Marks was out with the flu, leaving the pivot duties to Vladimir Stepania, who had the game of his life with 19 points, 12 rebounds and seven blocks.
However, the Hornets overpowered the Heat much the same way they did in the first round of last season's playoffs, when they won three games by a combined 67 points.
"Vlady had a career game tonight," Riley said. "I thought he played extremely well."
"As far as playing, I'm really happy," Stepania said. "I've never played so much in my life. I'm very disappointed that we lost. I don't know what I can do to get this team on a winning streak. I think we work hard, but we have to work harder."
Davis scored 23 points on 9-of-13 shooting. Wesley added 21 points, including seven in an 11-2 run that snapped a tie and gave the Hornets the lead for good.
"They played last night," Wesley said. "We knew that, we wanted to keep running them and put them on the defensive as much as possible, and we got some good plays down the stretch to put this one away."
Elden Campbell had 18 points and 10 rebounds for the Hornets, who won in Miami in the regular season for the first time since December 18, 1999. They won twice here during last season's playoff sweep.
Jones scored 22 points but none in the fourth quarter for the Heat, who matched their best point total since opening night but still fell to 2-4 at home.
"I knew that they were going to be ready for me when I tried to make a move," Jones said. "I knew that much. You have to hit the open people and I hit the open man. We have to make plays."
The game was tied, 73-73, entering the final period and a basket by Chris Gatling pulled Miami into an 81-81 deadlock with 8:24 remaining.
Wesley gave Charlotte the lead for good with a basket and added two free throws at the 7:32 mark. Gatling made two from the line, but Campbell made a short jumper, Wesley hit a 3-pointer and Davis sank a jumper for a 92-83 lead with 4:27 to go. Miami got no closer than seven points thereafter.
"I like the way our defense picked up in the fourth quarter," Hornets coach Paul Silas said. "They kind of wore down a bit. Their shots started missing and to me, that was the game."
Jamal Mashburn scored 12 points for the Hornets, who shot 46 percent (38-of-83) from the field and committed just nine turnovers.
"It's still early in the year and we're trying to find ourselves," Mashburn said. "Any game is a good game to win. We need to improve. We're going to get better."
Gatling scored 16 points and Eddie House added 11 for the Heat, who shot 45 percent (34-of-76) and committed 10 turnovers.
Jones scored 17 points in the first half as Miami grabbed a 44-42 lead. Davis had nine points in the third quarter.