Heat
Hornets Bury Heat in the Third Quarter, Then Hold On for 115-110
Charlotte beat Miami 115-110 at Spectrum Center behind 34 points from Brandon Miller. The Hornets led by as many as 23 before the Heat scored 35 in the fourth quarter and made it close. Charlotte moves to 2-1, while Miami falls to 0-3 and sits 14th in the East.
By the Hoops Nightly Desk · updated 3 h ago01The story of the nightThe third quarter decided itThe game was level at 31 after one quarter.
The game was level at 31 after one quarter. Charlotte scored 35 in the second and led 66-58 at the half. The third quarter settled it. The Hornets scored 30 and the Heat managed 17, so Charlotte went into the fourth ahead 96-75. The Hornets' biggest lead was 23. Miami never led by more than 4 at any point. Miami scored 35 in the fourth, while Charlotte scored 19, and the Heat got the margin down to the final 5. The game had 9 lead changes, but nearly all of them came before the third-quarter gap opened. The rally came too late.
02Miller leads a deep scoring nightBrandon Miller scored 34 points with 8 rebounds and 4 assists.
Brandon Miller scored 34 points with 8 rebounds and 4 assists. He shot 10 of 29 from the field and went 11 of 12 at the line, and he had 5 turnovers. Dennis Schroder added 25 points on 8 of 18 shooting, and Naz Reid scored 23 with 9 rebounds, hitting 5 of 8 from three. Grayson Allen gave Charlotte 20 off the bench. For Miami, Davion Mitchell had 22 points and 10 assists. Bam Adebayo scored 20 with 8 rebounds, Pelle Larsson added 15, and Bobby Portis Jr. had 13 points and 8 rebounds.
03Where it was wonCharlotte won the glass 58-47.
Charlotte won the glass 58-47. The Hornets also made more threes, going 16 of 43 against Miami's 13 of 35. Overall shooting was nearly even: Charlotte shot 38 of 88 and Miami shot 37 of 86. Both teams went 23 of 25 at the line. The Heat won several other categories and still lost. They outscored Charlotte 44-36 in the paint, 24-8 on the fast break and 25-13 off turnovers. They also had the better bench, 36-29. Charlotte committed 16 turnovers to Miami's 13. The rebounding and the long-range volume made up for all of it.
04What it meansCharlotte improves to 2-1 and sits 5th in the East, with a win in its latest game.
Charlotte improves to 2-1 and sits 5th in the East, with a win in its latest game. The Hornets got scoring from four players who reached 20 points. Miami is 0-3, 14th in the East, and is 0-3 over its last 10 games. Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 14 points on 4 of 11 shooting in 24.7 minutes and finished at -20, the worst mark in the game. Andrew Wiggins finished at -18 with 4 points. The Heat's fourth-quarter push was real, but the early hole was too deep.
A
A-
B+
B
C