Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Heat 108, Hornets 101
Heat half-game out of playoffs
Miami opens crucial homestand with a win.
MIAMI — The scoring binges explained just how explosive this Miami Heat team has become. First there was a 13-0 run, then an 11-0 run, then a 12-0 run in Wednesday night’s 108-101 victory over the Charlotte Hornets at American-Airlines Arena.
Because, as the Heat have shown from their climb back in the standings from 11-30, when this team gets on a roll, the fury can be unstoppable.
So make it 20 victories in the last 24 games, and now make it within a half-game of the eighth and final playoff seed in the Eastern Conference.
Dion Waiters, who hit three key late 3-pointers, led the Heat with 24 points, with Goran Dragic adding 22 and Hassan Whiteside a 10-point, 15-rebound double-double.
Guard Kemba Walker led
the Hornets with 33 points. It was the sixth consecutive game Walker has scored 25 or more, tying the longest such streak of his career.
A Tyler Johnson 3-pointer with 5:56 to play pushed the Heat to a 96-89 lead, capping a 12-0 run, following up earlier 11-0 and 13-0 runs.
Nicolas Batum ended the 12-0 run with a 21-foot jumper, but Waiters then drained a 3-pointer for a 99-91 Heat lead.
Batum then scored inside to move the Hornets within 99-93, with a travel on Whiteside following and then a tip-in by Cody Zeller to draw Charlotte within 99-95.
And, again, there was Waiters, with a 3-pointer that gave the Heat a 102-95 lead.
And again, there was Walker, with a 3-pointer of his own to draw the Hornets within 102-98 with 1:50 to play.
That was followed by yet another Waiters 3-pointer, for a 195-98 lead with 45.3 seconds to play.
But the Hornets kept pushing, a 3-point play by Walker pulling the Hornets within 105-101 with 35.2 seconds left.
A wild sequence then followed, with a turnover by the Heat’s Tyler Johnson and a missed transition layup by Walker. The flurry ended with Dragic at the line with 19.4 seconds to play.
With James Johnson converting a pair of 3-pointers early in the third period, the Heat forged the game’s eighth tie at 89-89 and then moved back ahead 91-89, the game’s 11th lead change, the run came with both Walker and Batum off the court.
While the Heat got Tyler Johnson and James Johnson back from the ailments that kept them out of Monday’s victory over the Cavaliers, the Hornets lost Batum early in the second half with a sprained left ankle. He did not return until midway through the fourth quarter.
With Walker sparking the Hornets late in the third period, already up to 27 points by that stage, Charlotte took an 86-81 lead into the fourth quarter.
Even with the Heat putting together 13-0 and 11-0 scoring surges in the first half, the teams went into halftime tied 54-54.
After a scoreless first period, Walker scored 17 points on 6-of-7 shooting in the second period. It was the highest scoring total by a Hornets player in a second quarter this season.
Dragic led the Heat with 12 first-half points.
It got testy 29 seconds into the second period, when Hornets forward Marvin Williams was called for a technical foul against Heat guard Josh Richardson.
Richardson then converted both free throws, Heat backup center Willie Reed converted another on that possession, with Wayne Ellington following shortly thereafter with a 3-pointer for a 26-22 Heat lead.
The Heat opened 4 of 16 from the field and 1 of 8 on 3-pointers, fortunate to exit the first quarter within 22-18.
The Heat lost Waiters midway through the first period with two fouls, shortly after Dragic briefly headed into the locker room when he was poked in his right eye, returning to finishing the quarter.
Heat coach Erik Spoelstra entered one victory shy of passing Jeff Van Gundy and Larry Costello for 38th place on the NBA’s all-time coaching victory list.