The Miami HEAT fell to the Charlotte Hornets 89-85 Monday night at Time Warner Cable Arena in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference First Round. Joe Johnson led the way for the HEAT with 16 points. The series is now tied at two games apiece.
1. Miami Resilient in the Third Quarter
After falling behind by 18 points with 9:27 to play in the third quarter, the HEAT responded in a big way. Thanks to improved defense and better execution on the offensive end, Miami went on a 17-1 run to cut Charlotte’s lead to 58-56. Dwyane Wade continued to wheel and deal and dished out four of his game-high ten assists in the third. Johnson, meanwhile, hit a tough contested 3-pointer and scored five points in the period.
While the Hornets closed out the quarter well, the HEAT gained some momentum thanks to their run. In fact, Wade and Johnson continued to convert in the fourth quarter, but Charlotte made more plays in the end to come away victorious.
2. Winslow Comes Alive in the Fourth
Road playoff games really show what players are made of. After a slow start from the field, Justise Winslow scored all eight of his points in the fourth quarter off some aggressive drives to the rack and a catch-and-shoot three. On the flip side of the ball, Winslow slowed down Jeremy Lin in the second half and also guarded Frank Kaminsky at times. In all, it was great to see the 20-year-old respond to adversity in a positive way on Monday night.
3. Dragic Aggressive Early
Although he didn’t play all that much due to foul trouble, Goran Dragic attacked Kemba Walker off the dribble and finished well among the trees early on in the contest. He also hit a few shots from the perimeter to keep the defense honest.
One of his best sequences came towards the end of the first quarter. With 2:41 to go in the period, Dragic swiped an errant pass from Courtney Lee intended for Walker, who cut along the baseline. The Slovenian then brought it up court, hit Cody Zeller with the behind-the-back dribble and passed it to Winslow. Once the rookie passed it back to Dragic, the guard drove inside, drew the defense and dished it to Amar’e Stoudemire for the and-one slam.
Dragic ended up with 12 points and three assists on 5-of-10 shooting.
Other Takeaways:
-While Luol Deng didn’t shoot as well as he did through the first three games of the series, he kept at it and fought hard in Game 4. The former Blue Devil finished with 15 points, seven rebounds and two assists.
Game Note: Chris Bosh and Tyler Johnson (shoulder) sat out.