The Miami HEAT fell to the Charlotte Hornets 97-91 Friday night at AmericanAirlines Arena. Hassan Whiteside led the way for the HEAT with 20 points.
1. Whiteside Feasts
After a nice outing in the season opener against the Magic, Whiteside simply did more of the same on Friday night. In particular, Whiteside went right at Cody Zeller in the post early on and hit a bunch of tough hook-shots over him. A big reason why the 7-footer had success was due to his solid footwork.
Otherwise in the contest, Whiteside cleaned the glass and gave Miami a multitude of second-chance opportunities. None was bigger than his clutch put-back jam with 1:04 remaining to cut Charlotte’s lead to 94-91. Unfortunately, it just wasn’t enough in the end.
In addition to his 20 points on 8-of-11 shooting, Whiteside also had 15 rebounds (five offensive) and two blocks.
2. T. Johnson Comes Through in the Third
While the Hornets mounted a comeback in the third quarter, Tyler Johnson did his best to combat them with eight points in the period. As usual, he worked well off the ball and made the defense pay with shots from the perimeter.
While that was the case, Johnson also made some noise in transition. With 9:22 to go in the second quarter, Johnson and Willie Reed forced a miss from Ramon Sessions inside. Once Justise Winslow came up with the defensive rebound, it was off to the races. After taking it down the court quickly, the forward then passed it to Johnson on his left, who took one dribble and soared in the air for the beautiful one-handed jam.
Johnson finished with 12 points and six boards on the evening.
3. Unselfishness Reigns Supreme
One of the HEAT’s most redeeming qualities is their unselfishness. Throughout the first half on Friday night, Miami moved the ball quite well in order to get the best possible shot. In fact, the team tallied 11 assists on 20 made field goals through the first two quarters. As a result, they shot 8-of-17 from distance during that span. One of the main beneficiaries of Miami’s crisp ball movement was Rodney McGruder, who hit his first three 3-pointers against the Hornets.
While the HEAT did hit a little bit of a rough patch in the third, they still tallied 19 assists on the evening and shot 41.2 percent from three-point land.
Other Takeaways:
-Like on Wednesday, Goran Dragić hit some big shots down the stretch for Miami and led the team with six points in the fourth quarter. In all, the Slovenian scored 14 points, grabbed four boards and dished out a team-high nine assists.
-Dion Waiters made his presence felt early on in Miami’s home opener. With 6:55 to go in the first quarter, Waiters made a nice play to reach around Nicolas Batum without fouling and stole the ball. He then took it all the way for the layup over Marvin Williams.
Waiters finished with 13 points, seven rebounds and three assists.
Game Note:
Wayne Ellington (right thigh contusion) and Josh Richardson (sprained right MCL) sat out.
Looking Ahead:
The HEAT will play their next two games at home against a pair of Western Conference opponents. Miami and San Antonio will hit the hardwood on Sunday at 6:00 PM, then the Kings come to town for a matchup on Tuesday at 7:30 PM. Tickets for both games can be found here.