Kemba Walker and the Charlotte Hornets aren't done yet. After a slow first quarter, the Hornets bombarded the Miami Heat in the second and third quarters and held on down the stretch for an 89-85 win to even the first-round playoff series at two games apiece.
Heat vs. Hornets 2016 final score: Kemba Walker leads Charlotte as they even series against Miami
A clutch night from Walker carried the Hornets to an 89-85 win.
Streeter Lecka/Getty Images
Walker had 34 points as the Hornets thwarted the Heat offense for the second game in a row. Game 5 will be in Miami on Wednesday.
The Heat jumped out to a 26-19 first-quarter lead thanks to hot shooting, and the Hornets looked out of sorts offensively. But Kemba Walker and Jeremy Lin sparked a 21-4 Hornets run as they sprinted to a 48-39 halftime lead. They didn't slow in the third, scoring the frame's first nine points as part of a 36-8 extended run.
The Heat, however, had a run of their own up their sleeves. They went on a 17-1 run to stay in the game, but the Hornets led 69-61 through three quarters. Lin poured it on in the fourth as the Hornets built up a nine-point lead, but once again, the Heat wouldn’t fold. They fought back and trailed 76-75 with less than 6:00 to play.
That’s when Walker took the Hornets on one more run to put the game away. He hit tough shots down the stretch and the Hornets survived one last Heat run to hold on for a four-point win.
Here are three things we learned:
Hornets coach Steve Clifford continues to be right about the Heat's hot shooting in Games 1 and 2
Miami shot a miserable 34.2 percent from the field in their Game 3 loss after Clifford said the Heat would cool off following their hot start in Games 1 and 2. The Hornets clogged the lane with Frank Kaminsky, and the Heat's perimeter game was miserable. The Heat came out firing in Game 4 -- they shot 50 percent in the first quarter and were 3-of-6 from deep as they jumped out to a 26-19 lead -- and looked prime to prove Clifford wrong. However, they once again regressed to the mean. Clifford was right again. The Heat missed 10 straight shots in the second quarter in the midst of Charlotte's 21-4 run. Thy shot 39.5 percent from the field and 37.9 percent from deep in the game -- it clearly wasn't good enough.
Jeremy Lin is the spark the Hornets need, even if it’s always about Kemba Walker
The Hornets struggled to get going in the first quarter, feeding the ball to Al Jefferson and stalling the offense, but Lin brought instant offense off the bench. Along with Kemba Walker, he kept the Hornets in it and was an integral part of the run that gave them their lead. Lin had 21 points off the bench, with many of them coming in clutch moments.
He hit this bucket to extend the Hornets’ lead in the final moments of the third, and then kept the offense rolling in the fourth. Walker is the go-to player offensively -- as he proved down the stretch of the fourth quarter -- but Lin is keeping the Hornets alive.
The Heat have work to do if they’re going to turn this series around in Game 5
They put together a 17-1 run to stay in the game, but the Heat couldn’t figure out Charlotte’s defense all night. If the Heat aren’t going to make their shots (see above), they’re going to need to find different ways into the lane. It might start defensively. The Hornets have found a lineup that is giving Miami fits -- the Heat might have to create some offense with defense and in transition. The Heat had zero fast break points. They played solid defense all night, but it wasn’t turning into offensive opportunities.
It could also start with Justise Winslow. The rookie was attacking Kaminsky off the dribble in the fourth quarter, and it was the only thing working. Once the Hornets took Kaminsky out, it once again wasn’t there for Miami. If the Heat are going to turn this around, they need to find a way into the lane for an entire game.
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