Miami HEAT at Charlotte Hornets Game Preview

The Miami HEAT face the Charlotte Hornets Wednesday night at Spectrum Center. Tip-off is set for 7:00 PM, and television coverage is on FOX Sports Sun. You can also listen to the action live on 790 The Ticket.

1: How were the HEAT finally able to shake the Atlanta Hawks?

Couper Moorhead: You can chalk this one up to the talents of one Mr. Dwyane Wade. The HEAT got some nice performances all around, with Josh Richardson, Justise Winslow, Bam Adebayo and Derrick Jones Jr. combining to shoot 22-of-37 from the floor, but with the Hawks keeping pace offensively as they hit 17 threes things were still headed for a nip-and-tuck game down the stretch after things were tied after three quarters. As the HEAT have had some trouble scoring late in close games this season, sometimes just being able to get consistent shots off has been their best scoring option and Wade might still be the best player on the team as far as getting a shot off. Wade still had to drop in some contested long two’s, but the HEAT just kept on running handoffs and pick-and-rolls for him and Wade kept answering the call as he shot 6-of-10 for 14 points in the final period. A good game all around, but it was Wade’s game in the end and effectively the second game this week that he’s pulled out for Miami.

Joe Beguiristain: Since Coup already got into Dwyane Wade’s performance, I’ll focus on some of the young guys.

Both Josh Richardson and Justise Winslow were red-hot to start the game, as they took what the defense gave them and mixed up their offensive approach in the first half. And while Richardson hit some big threes in the fourth, we can’t forget about Winslow’s remarkable behind-the-back pass to Bam Adebayo on the break in the third.

Obviously, Wade has played a major role in the HEAT winning three of four, but J. Rich and Winslow have also held up their end of the bargain. Richardson is averaging 17.5 points per game on 50.0 percent shooting, including 40.0 percent from deep, while Winslow leads the team with 5.5 assists per contest during that span.

Erik Spoelstra summed it up perfectly after Monday night’s victory over the Hawks.

“You’re seeing Justise Winslow emerge as a big-time leader of this team. You’re seeing Josh Richardson really emerge,” Coach Spo said. “You can see their animation, and you can feel their competitive drive, and you can hear them. And I just love seeing them grow, particularly from where they were before.”

Couper: Both games, each a Miami loss, happened way back in October. The first, in Miami, was a typical HEAT-Hornets affair. Somebody goes up big (Charlotte went up 26), the other side comes back and forces a close game, Kemba Walker is a nightmare to defend (39 points) and Dwyane Wade finds a way to pace Miami’s offense (21 points). The Hornets escaped with a win after Kemba Walker drew a foul at the rim in the final seconds, and since then Charlotte is just 8-18 in clutch (within five points in the last five minutes) games, tied with the Knicks for the worst clutch record in the league.

The second game was Charlotte’s night throughout, but what was most interesting about it was that Walker didn’t play a particularly great game by his standards (still 19 points and 8 assists on 6-of-14 shooting). Instead it was Charlotte’s bench which made the greatest impact as Malik Monk scored 20 points on 7-of-10 shooting and Tony Parker was essentially unstoppable as he scored 24 points in 25 minutes to finish a game-high plus-19. It’s this second game that is probably the most interesting one, as the Hornets getting big bench production always gives them a huge boost. The question, however, is who will be on that bench? Tony Parker has essentially been the only mainstay as Monk, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist and Willy Hernangomez have gone games without playing at all and former starter Jeremy Lamb is now on the bench with Miles Bridges joining the starting lineup. So each team may be facing each other with entirely different lineups and rotations than the ones that played in October, but there’s little reason to expect anything other than a close game.

Joe: As Coup mentioned above, both of Miami’s prior matchups with Charlotte came very early into the season, so it’s hard to glean too much from either game.

That said, we all know just how dangerous Kemba Walker is.

Walker, who went off on Oct. 20 against the HEAT, has been the key to the Hornets’ success for years now. And the 28-year-old has been on a mission during this playoff push, averaging 28.3 points and 6.8 assists per game in his 12 outings since Feb. 2. Now, his shooting percentages are a little low, but it’s not too troubling since his volume is high and he has to do so much for his squad. In fact, Charlotte’s offense is 10.8 points per 100 possessions better with him on the court than off.

It hasn’t just been Walker, though, as Jeremy Lamb has been on a hot streak and Frank Kaminsky has taken advantage of more playing time of late.

We’ll see how it all plays out.

3: What does this game mean beyond Wednesday night?

Couper: There’s no bigger sort of game this time of year. The HEAT and Hornets are tied for the No. 8 seed in the Eastern Conference, with the HEAT losing the tiebreaker and the Magic only a half game back. Because the HEAT only have four games left against divisional opponents, it will be effectively impossible for Miami to earn a head-to-head tiebreaker against the Hornets if they lose Wednesday night, with a loss also making it that much more difficult to get back the tiebreaker over Orlando. In other words, like recent games against Detroit and Brooklyn, this is one of those games that has the possibility of counting double in the standings. Win or lose, nothing will be settled Wednesday night, but it’s still definitively one of the three or four biggest games left on the schedule.

Joe: Nothing will be set in stone once this one is over, but whomever wins will be in the driver’s seat.

Although the HEAT and Hornets are tied for the No. 8 seed in the East, Charlotte owns the head-to-head tiebreaker at the moment. To make matters worse, the Hornets also hold the division record tiebreaker and conference record tiebreaker as it stands now (those are the next two tie-breaking criteria other than division winner).

Long story short, this is a pretty important game. Luckily enough, Miami has been in these situations before and is battle tested for moments like this.

It’s time.

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