Heat VS Hornets (Game 3)

Heat Lead Series 2-1

The Heat lost their hot shooting. This is not why they lost though. They lost because totally different reasons. Let's take a look at those reasons, shall we?

While the Heat only shot 34.2% from the field, the Hornets only shot 38.9% from the field. Neither team actually shot well. However, the Hornets valued each possession. They only had 3 turnovers in the game! Only 3! On the other hand, the Heat had 14 turnovers. That is an 11 turnover difference.

That wasn't the only big difference that I noticed. I also saw that Miami had 28 points in the paint while the Hornets had 52. The Heat just weren't able to finish, and part of it was because of the interior defense that the Hornets had. It was so strong that it forced up some tough shots. While Luol Deng played great, the Hornets were fine with it as they were focused on other players. They realized Deng couldn't beat this team on his own.

Frank Kaminsky got to start in his playoff game. It was proved as a good move for the Hornets as he put up 15 points in the game. He just took it at the Heat in the post not matter who was guarding him. Another guy that played great was Jeremy Lin, who had 18 points off the bench. He was able to get into the paint and make some big plays. He had 10 points in the paint alone. Marvin Williams also had 12 points with 14 rebounds. This balanced scoring helped them win this game without a good game from Kemba.


The Hornets also hit 21 of their 22 free throws while Miami hit only 19 of their 30. The Heat left 11 points at the line. The rebounding battle was also big. While the Heat had 53 rebounds, the Hornets had 47. It wasn't really lopsided and the Heat didn't convert efficiently after they got the offensive rebounds.

Don't sleep on the Hornets, they are a great home team and this series could come down to a game 7.