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Walker’s Career Night Not Enough in Game 6

By Matt Rochinski, hornets.com

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Result
Kemba Walker did everything he could to try and will his Hornets team to victory in Game 6 in front of a record crowd at Time Warner Cable Arena, scoring a career-best 37 points, including 14 in the fourth quarter. Unfortunately, perennial All-Star Dwyane Wade found his three-point shooting stroke at the most inopportune time and finished with a team-high 23 points on Miami’s way to a 97-90 win, forcing Game 7 at 1 p.m. on Sunday in Miami.

Turning Point
It had been 135 days since Dwyane Wade hit a three-pointer. In the waning minutes of Game 6, he connected on back-to-back threes to seal the win for Miami. With the Heat up 87-81 with 3:06 remaining in the fourth, Wade didn’t care that he hadn’t dropped a trey since Dec. 16, 2015 in Brooklyn. It did not matter to him that he had gone 0-of-21 from beyond the arc in that span. He pulled up outside of the arc on the right side and drained a three to give Miami a 90-81 lead, ending the longest such run of his career. Still, the Hornets weren’t done. Kemba Walker wouldn’t let Charlotte quit. First Walker drove the lane and converted with 2:54 left to cut the lead to 90-83. Then he drained a trey of his own from the right side to make it a four-point game with 2:36 left. Walker completed his own seven-point run on a reverse lay-up with 1:40 on the clock and suddenly Charlotte was in a two-point game, down 90-88, and the Hive was alive. Luol Deng air balled a three-pointer from the top of the arc and the Heat were called for a shot-clock violation with 1:16 remaining, giving the Hornets a chance, but Walker was off the mark on a mid-range jumper from the elbow with 1:04 showing on the clock. Then Wade did it again, draining a three from the left side to put Miami up 93-88 with 46 seconds remaining. Al Jefferson converted a lay-up with 39.3 ticks remaining to make it 93-90, but it was Wade who iced the game with a turnaround jumper over Courtney Lee with 19.5 seconds left on the way to the win.

Inside the Box Score
Kemba Walker led all scorers with a playoff career-high 37 points. Al Jefferson added 18 and Cody Zeller tied a playoff career-high with 12 points off the bench… Charlotte was outshot 45.8 percent (38-of-83) to 42.1 percent (32-of-76) from the field and 50.0 percent (8-of-16) to 29.4 percent (5-of-17) from three-point range… Charlotte connected on 21-of-25 (.840) free throws tonight. They entered the evening first in the 2016 Playoffs in free throw percentage (.825)… Luol Deng had his second game this series with 20-plus points with 21 points tonight on 9-of-14 from the field and 3-of-4 from the three-point line… Miami had a 19-9 advantage in second chance points tonight… The Heat outrebounded the Hornets 46-31 tonight.

Hornets Player of the Game
Kemba Walker’s 37-point performance not only set a playoff career high but placed him second in Charlotte franchise history behind Glen Rice’s 39-point game on 4/26/96. It was Walker’s second 30-plus point performance this series, which marked the first time a Charlotte player has had multiple 30-plus performances in the playoffs since Jamal Mashburn had two such games in 2001. Walker added a game-high five assists and tied a game-high with two steals.

Heat Player of the Game
Dwyane Wade had a team-high 23 points, 10 of which came in the fourth quarter. It marked the second-straight game this series for Wade with 20-plus points. Wade also recorded six rebounds, four assists, three blocks and two steals.

Game Notes
The attendance at Time Warner Cable Arena tonight was 19,636, the highest attendance for a basketball game in arena history… Nicolas Batum left the game after re-aggravating his left foot strain in the second quarter and did not return… Spencer Hawes (right knee sprain) and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist (right shoulder surgery) were out for Charlotte.

Next Up
The Hornets head to Miami for Game 7 on Sunday, May 1 at American Airlines Arena. Watch the game on ABC and listen to the game on the official Charlotte Hornets mobile app.