The Miami HEAT defeated the Charlotte Hornets 106-73 Sunday afternoon at AmericanAirlines Arena in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference First Round. Goran Dragić led the way for the HEAT with 25 points. With the win, Miami advances to the next round.
1. Enter the Dragon
Game 7 is all about trusting your instincts as a player. For years, Goran Dragić has made a living by attacking the basket and finishing tough plays inside. Well, the point guard did just that on Sunday afternoon.
In fact, Dragić scored 17 points in the first half and took Kemba Walker off the dribble early and often. While he had a number of great conversions in the half-court, the Slovenian’s best finish, of course, came in transition.
To start the sequence with 5:01 left in the second quarter, Hassan Whiteside swatted Al Jefferson’s shot attempt inside. From there, Dragic grabbed the loose ball, went with a behind-the-back dribble against Courtney Lee and drove towards the right block. That’s when things got fun, as the point guard hit Lee with a spin move before finishing the reverse layup.
In the second half, Dragić continued his offensive onslaught thanks to some nice screens from Whiteside and Joe Johnson. Oh, and let’s not forget about this jam in the third quarter as the HEAT were rolling.
In addition to his 25 points on 11-of-17 shooting, Dragić also tallied six rebounds and four assists.
2. Whiteside Protects the Paint
While that was great, the center’s biggest impact came on the defensive end. Whiteside protected the rim, closed out well on shooters (including Walker and Cody Zeller) and came away with five blocks against Charlotte.
In all, the former Marshall standout had 10 points and 12 boards (five offensive) to go along with his five blocks.
3. Relentless Effort
The HEAT’s energy on both ends was fantastic all afternoon. The team set the tone early on with six offensive rebounds in the first quarter, with Whiteside, Luol Deng and Josh Richardson fighting hard for loose balls. That continued throughout, as Miami totaled 18 second-chance points for the game.
Defensively, the HEAT simply made nothing come easy for the Hornets. Again, Whiteside played a huge part in that, but the perimeter guys also did their job by fighting hard through screens. Miami’s best quarter defensively was the third, where it held Charlotte to a paltry 20.8 percent shooting. It’s no coincidence that it was then that the HEAT rattled off a 29-9 run to essentially seal the deal.
Other Takeaways:
-As been the case all series, Deng had a great start to Game 7. He scored seven quick points in the first quarter and continued to do well from distance. The vet finished the game with 15 points, eight rebounds and four assists.
Game Note: Chris Bosh and Brianté Weber were inactive.