Hornets-Heat Preview

By CHRIS ALTRUDA
Posted Jan 29 2012 11:40PM

Sunday was the highest of highs for the Miami Heat and the lowest of lows for the New Orleans Hornets thus far in this compressed season.

Trying to avoid a letdown, the Heat seek to continue their winning ways Monday night when it hosts a Hornets squad going for only its third win in 19 games.

Miami (15-5), which opened its season with a victory at Dallas in a rematch of the 2011 finals it lost in six games, appears to have rediscovered the form from its 8-1 start. The Heat grinded out a 97-93 victory - their fourth straight - Sunday over Chicago in the first game between the teams since Miami won the Eastern Conference finals in five games last spring.

LeBron James had 35 points and 11 rebounds while Chris Bosh chipped in 24 and 12, respectively, to help offset a poor shooting night by Dwyane Wade, who missed 12 of 16 attempts from the floor but finished with 15 points and seven assists.

"The ball was on our side this time," said James, who nearly cost his team the win by missing two free throws with 18 seconds left after Bulls guard and 2011 NBA MVP Derrick Rose did the same five seconds before that.

James, who took on the added responsibility of guarding Rose down the stretch, notched his third straight 30-point game and 11th in 19 contests in 2011-12. He has been more aggressively driving to the basket all season, shooting 54.7 percent while averaging 29.5 points.

In his first 19 games getting used to playing with Bosh and Wade in 2010-11, James averaged 23.4 points on 44.8 percent shooting but also had attempted more than twice as many 3-pointers (63) as he has this season (30). James has averaged 24.4 points in 18 lifetime games versus New Orleans, but had only 20 in each contest against the Hornets last season.

That New Orleans team, however, bears little resemblance to the current squad, which was completely transformed by the preseason trade of Chris Paul to the Los Angeles Clippers and free agent departure of David West to Indiana. The Hornets (4-16) were thwarted in a bid for back-to-back wins Sunday, falling 94-72 at home to Atlanta on Sunday. They shot 37.5 percent while scoring a season low.

"It's certainly one of those games you have to flush the toilet on and get ready for the next one, but I was really disappointed in our effort, especially at home with a day in between games," Hornets coach Monty Williams said."

Jarrett Jack has averaged 16.5 points and 7.3 assists while emerging as the team's top offensive option with Eric Gordon sidelined by a knee injury, but was held to 10 points and four assists Sunday.

Getting back in transition may be a concern for the Hornets, who have allowed a league-worst 18.3 fast-break points per game on the road. Miami, which had 14 such points in the win over Chicago, ranks among the NBA's best with an average of 17.4 fast-break points per game.

The home team won both meetings last season, with Miami's "Big 3" combining for 75 points in a 96-84 victory Dec. 13, 2010.

The Hornets have won eight of the last 11 overall matchups in this series.

Heat shake off slow start, beat Hornets 109-95

By TIM REYNOLDS
Posted Jan 31 2012 12:36AM

MIAMI (AP) Dwyane Wade's role as captain of the Miami Heat comes with certain privileges. For example, he can occasionally shake off calls from Heat coach Erik Spoelstra.

And no one complained, either.

Wade and LeBron James each scored 22 points, Mike Miller added 14 off the bench and the Heat rode the strength of a brilliant 18-minute run midway through the game to beat the Hornets 109-95 on Monday night, Miami's eighth win in nine games.

The Hornets finished with only 25 rebounds, the lowest total in the NBA this season. James had 11 rebounds - more than any two Hornets - and eight assists for Miami, which had six players in double figures and outscored New Orleans 54-23 from the midpoint of the second quarter through the end of the third.

"When a guy like D-Wade has a rhythm, you've got to keep feeding him," James said. "He brought us back."

Wade had 15 points in the second quarter, and perhaps his biggest contribution all night was when he got Spoelstra to change his mind. Looking to manufacture a jolt, Spoelstra wanted to go to a zone defense when Miami was struggling. Wade waved him off, thinking the Heat were on the verge of getting something going.

He was right.

"We started the game in a little bit of a fog and they came out and played very sharply," Spoelstra said. "They came out with a lot of energy ... then the game changed, I felt, in the second quarter. Dwyane really set the tone from that point on."

Chris Bosh and Norris Cole each scored 12 for the Heat, who trailed 45-33 midway through the second quarter before outscoring New Orleans 76-50 the rest of the way.

Jarrett Jack and Carl Landry each scored 14 for New Orleans, which lost for the 17th time in 19 games after a 2-0 start. Emeka Okafor scored 13 points and Greivis Vasquez added 11 for the Hornets.

"It's hard to play the kind of basketball that you need to play when you're not getting what you feel is a fair call at times," Hornets coach Monty Williams said. "I thought our guys got beat up a little bit tonight going to the basket. ... Take nothing away from Miami. That is a championship-contending team. Their effort showed that tonight."

There were all sorts of indicators suggesting that Miami would get off to a less-than-ideal start.

It was Miami's third game in four nights, though all were at home. Monday's tip-off came about 24 hours after Sunday's down-to-the-wire epic against Chicago, where the Heat win wasn't secure until 0.1 seconds remained. And the second night of back-to-backs have been trouble all season for Miami, which had been 3-3 in those contests - including both of its home defeats, those coming against Atlanta and Milwaukee.

So sure enough, the Heat started slowly - and found themselves in a 12-point hole against a team with the worst record in the Western Conference. New Orleans made 10 of its first 11 shots, then used a 16-6 run in the second quarter to briefly grab control. Spoelstra had an idea. Wade apparently had a better one.

"He called our zone and as the captain at that time, I kind of vetoed it," Wade said. "It ain't gonna happen much. But I felt at the time we needed to be a little more aggressive."

With that, the game changed for good. Wade scored 11 straight Miami points to erase the deficit almost single-handedly - 13 out of 15 points as well, assisting a basket by James to account for the other two - and the Heat went into halftime up 51-49.

They were just getting started.

Miami scored the first nine points of the third, stretching the lead to 60-49 and capping what was a 27-4 run over a span of less than eight minutes. James scored 14 points in the quarter, Chalmers made all three of his shots - all from 3-point range - and the Miami lead was up to 87-68 by the end of the period.

"That's the game right there. You blink and all of a sudden the lead opens up," Okafor said. "With a team like that, you can't allow that to happen - three superstars and a cast of players who can play. You give them that type of leeway, they just run with it."

By then, the only drama left was whether James would get his 33rd career triple-double. Instead, he got the fourth quarter off.

Notes: Justin Bieber, who has been the subject of more than a few tweets posted by Heat owner Micky Arison, was in attendance. ... Williams had high praise for the Heat before the game, especially Spoelstra. "Spo doesn't get enough credit in my opinion for the ability to coach talent, supreme talent, every night," Williams said. ... Miller - no stranger to injury problems in his Heat tenure - was grabbing at his right hand late in the first quarter and grimacing in pain, but stayed in the game. ... James became the 17th player in NBA history with 17,000 points, 4,500 rebounds and 4,500 assists. Of the first 16, 13 are Hall of Famers already, the others being Gary Payton, Kevin Garnett and Kobe Bryant, all sure-fire Hall entrants one day.

Notebook: Heat 109, Hornets 95

By Shandel Richardson, for NBA.com
Posted Monday January 30, 2012 10:19PM

THE FACTS: The Miami Heat received a scare during the first half but avoided another letdown by defeating the New Orleans Hornets 109-95 Monday at AmericanAirlines Arena.

Coach Erik Spoelstra warned his team about this being a "trap game" because it was coming off a big victory against the Chicago Bulls the previous game. The Heat lost to the Milwaukee Bucks the last time they were in this situation, but avoided a repeat.

Guard Dwyane Wade scored 22 points, rebounding from a subpar game against the Bulls. The Heat shook off a sluggish start to take control in the third quarter. Forward LeBron James, the reigning Eastern Conference player of the week, finished with 22 points and 11 rebounds.

The Hornets were led by Carl Landry's 14 points.

QUOTABLE: "Dwyane really set the tone from that point. I was very encouraged by that. We were able to get a lot of opportunities of our defense."
-- Spoelstra said of the second quarter.

THE STAT: The Heat outscored the Hornets 60-39 in the second and third quarters. It turned a potential upset into the expected blowout.

TURNING POINT: The Heat trailed by 12 in the first half, but used a 27-4 run during the second and third quarter to restore order. After leading 51-49 at halftime, the Heat scored the first nine points of the second half to take control.

HOT: Wade recovered from an off night the previous game against the Bulls. He shot 8 of 15 from the field on his way to 22 points. He also had five assists.

NOT: The Hornets in the third quarter shot just 7 of 16 from the field. James and Mario Chalmers alone outscored New Orleans in the quarter (23-19).

GOOD MOVE: The Heat went for balance against their outmatched opponent. Sure, Wade and James carried most of the load, but Mario Chalmers, Norris Cole, Shane Battier and Mike Miller also contributed.

BAD MOVE: The Hornets lost control when the tempo picked up. Not many teams can run with the Heat, and that was New Orleans' downfall in the third quarter. The Hornets gave up too many points in transition.

UP NEXT: For the Heat, Wednesday @ Bucks, Friday @ Philadelphia, Sunday vs. Toronto. For the Hornets, Wednesday vs. Suns, Thursday @ Spurs, Saturday @ Pistons.

• Hornets: Gordon
• Heat: Gladness, Harris

• Hornets: --
• Heat: --

• Lead Changes: 4
• Times Tied: 1

• Arena: American Airlines Arena, Miami, FL
• Officials: #9 Derrick Stafford, #11 Derrick Collins, #54 Nick Buchert
• Attendance: 19804
• Duration: 2:09