Miami Heat vs Charlotte Hornets: 5 things to watch for in Game 5

The Miami Heat take a 2-2 series against the Charlotte Hornets back to South Florida for Game 5.

The Miami Heat have some things to work out.

After starting its first round series against the Charlotte Hornets with some white hot shooting and top notch defense, the Heat have dropped two games in North Carolina as the Hornets have gained momentum in the series heading back to Miami.

After Game 2, Hornets coach Steve Clifford inserted two big men Al Jefferson and Frank Kaminsky into his starting lineup. The plan was to clog up the paint against Miami’s rim-oriented offense, and it worked. The Heat’s offense gummed up, the shots didn’t fall with the same frequency and Miami lost two straight.

We’ll see what Heat coach Erik Spoelstra throws together to combat Clifford’s adjustment, in a series that’s increasingly becoming about the coaching battle. Here are five things to watch for in Game 5.

1. Hassan Whiteside’s defense on pick-and-rolls

Hassan Whiteside is the anchor of Miami’s defense, for better or for worse. At times, he can be absolutely dominant. At his best Whiteside is a shot blocking ninja to be feared. At his worst, Whiteside is lackadaisical and/or lazy, and gets his feet tangled up in coverages. He was the former in the first two games, and the latter in the last two.

Lin and Walker combined for 17 shots at the rim in Game 4. That’s too much, and something the Heat have to work on preventing.

Spoelstra has asked Whiteside to step out and defend the perimeter at times, but that’s led to getting beat on the dribble by Charlotte’s quick guards Kemba Walker and Jeremy Lin.

It doesn’t help that Whiteside is recovering from a right thigh bruise that could be slowing him down.

Spoelstra could opt to give up on the hedge, and have Whiteside conservatively sag back and allow the Heat’s perimeter defenders to funnel the likes of Walker and Lin to him. Unfortunately that gives up open mid-range shots, but that’s better than uncontested shots at the rim.

2. Josh McRoberts time?

Erik Spoelstra has tried a few different lineups this series, and even threw out Dorrel Wright in the first half and Gerald Green in the second half of Game 4. Maybe he’s willing to go a bit deeper on his bench and dust off Josh McRoberts.

McRoberts, who came to Miami from Charlotte, hasn’t been the play-making floor spacer the Heat hoped for when they signed him, but he may force the Hornets defense to space out a bit more. That could create more room for Miami’s guards Goran Dragic and Dwyane Wade to get to the rim.

Given that Amar’e Stoudemire and Udonis Haslem haven’t been all that effective, it could be worth trying.

3. A new role for Luol Deng

The Heat took advantage of the likes of Frank Kaminsky and Al Jefferson on the offensive end in the first two games. Both are notoriously bad defenders, but the Heat couldn’t take advantage in the last two losses.

Why? Because Clifford is throwing more bodies into the paint to help out his big men. It’s a numbers game, and the Heat don’t have the perimeter shooting to make them pay for helping off Miami’s wings.

It’s resulted in body after body between Whiteside, Dragic, Wade and the rim. Miami’s guards are finishing their drives five, six feet away from the basket and Whiteside hasn’t been his usual alley-ooping self.

The Heat have to hurt the Hornets where they are weak, and that’s Jefferson and Kaminsky’s pick-and-roll defense. One way the Heat can do that is by involving Luol Deng in more pick-and-rolls with Dragic/Wade.Deng has been a hot shooter for much of this series, but it’s proven to be unsustainable as he went just 4-for-14 in Monday’s loss. It’s time to get him on the move.

Kaminsky is the one drawing the Deng assignment, and making him defend Deng rolling to the rim can turn Deng into a playmaker, and could open up some drop offs to Whiteside or kick outs for second cuts to Wade and/or Dragic.

4. Rooks 1 and 2

It’s time for Rooks 1 and 2 to get off the schnide and be the boosts off the bench they were during the regular season. Justise Winslow in particular.

Winslow has offered some earnest defense and occasional highlights, but he hasn’t shot well this series. The Hornets have been all too willing to help off of him and double Whiteside early. When he’s left open, he isn’t making open shots NBA players should make.

As for Richardson, he played great defense on Walker to end Game 4, holding him scoreless for the final three minutes. Maybe Spoelstra found something. It’ll be interesting to see how early he goes to Richardson, who finished the game over Dragic.

5. Kill the droughts

What has been killing the Heat are the five and six minute stretches of scoreless offense. Give credit to Charlotte’s defense, they forced Miami into a jump shooting team. That’s not their game.

Spoelstra doesn’t need to make any major changes as the Heat were right there in Game 4. He just needs to figure out how to unclog the drain when the offense can’t get anything going.

For inspiration, he could flick back to Miami’s season-ending loss to the Boston Celtics (I know, I know, we don’t like to talk about it). In that game, the Heat went to a lineup with Deng at center. It was something that juiced up Miami’s offense for a couple of minutes.

A center-less lineup isn’t sustainable against this Hornets squad, but it could be something Spoelstra works into the game in order to prevent those draughts that have been killing the Heat in close games.

Next: Column: LeBron James forever linked to the Miami Heat

Heat-Hornets Game 5 viewing info:

Date: Wednesday, April 27
Start Time: 8 p.m. ET
Location: Miami, FL
Arena: AmericanAirlines Arena
TV Info: TNT, FS-SUN
Radio: 790 AM