NBA ROUNDUP
Heat 97, Hornets 90
Dwyane Wade proved he still has some magic in his 34-year-old body. Wade scored 10 of his 23 points in the fourth quarter, making his first 3-pointer of 2016, and Miami forced its first-round series to a seventh game with a victory over Charlotte on Friday night. Luol Deng was 9 of 14 from the field and finished with 21 points, while Goran Dragic added 14 points and seven rebounds for the Heat, who will host Game 7 on Sunday. The Heat overcame a playoff career-high 37 points from Kemba Walker to hand the Hornets only their 11th loss of the season at home. Al Jefferson had 18 points and nine rebounds, and Cody Zeller had 12 points off the bench for Charlotte. With Miami leading by two, Wade hit his first 3-pointer since December with 46 seconds left and added an 18-foot turnaround jump shot over Courtney Lee to help seal the win. The Hornets missed a golden opportunity to advance to the second round of the playoffs for the first time in 14 years. They trailed the entire second half, never quite able to get over the hump and the Heat made timely shots and grabbed crucial rebounds. Miami outrebounded Charlotte 46-31. Walker gave it all he had. The 6-foot-1 point guard somehow got an up-and-under layup to fall amid the trees, then hit a 3-pointer from the left wing to beat the shot clock and cut the Miami lead to 85-81. Hassan Whiteside returned to the game with 4:20 left and immediately made an impact, scoring on an offensive rebound. But Walker drove the lane and drew an and-one with 3 minutes to go, sending Whiteside to the bench with his sixth foul. Walker then added a razzle-dazzle step-back jumper to trim the Heat lead to 90-86 with 2:12 left in the game.
Pacers 101, Raptors 83
Paul George scored 21 points, Myles Turner added 15 and Indiana beat Toronto to force a Game 7 of their series. That will be played Sunday in Toronto, and the winner will advance to the Eastern Conference semifinals. Indiana scored 18 straight points in the second half to pull away from the second-seeded Raptors, who haven’t won a postseason series since the first round in 2001. DeMarre Carroll and Cory Joseph each had 15 points for the Raptors. Kyle Lowry (4 for 14) and DeMar DeRozan (3 for 13) struggled again, and now the Raptors will head home and hear again about their troubled playoff problems: a Game 7 loss at home to Brooklyn in 2014, Washington’s four-game sweep last season and no series wins in a seven-game series. And there 15-year victory drought is the longest active streak in the league.
Lakers hire Warriors’ Walton as head coach
Luke Walton is coming home to rebuild the Los Angeles Lakers. The Lakers reached an agreement Friday night with the Golden State assistant to become their head coach, dramatically choosing a leader for their new era after Kobe Bryant. The Lakers grabbed Walton just five days after they fired Byron Scott, who led the 16-time NBA champions to the two worst seasons in franchise history. Walton spent nine seasons with the Lakers, winning two championship rings as a smart, steady contributor. Three years after his retirement, the 36-year-old Southern California native is back to become the 26th head coach in franchise history.