The Miami Heat overpowered the Charlotte Hornets in Game 7 to advance to the second round of the NBA Playoffs.
In 2012, the Miami Heat were down 3-2 to the Boston Celtics. It was Game 6, and you know what happened. The LeBron James stare, a thrilling game and a Heat win to force a Game 7. A lot of people don’t remember that Game 7, because the series was essentially won after that Game 6. In 2013, Ray Allen hit the greatest shot in NBA Finals history. Miami didn’t win the game on that shot. They forced overtime. But that overtime was more of a formality, the NBA gods don’t allow teams to lose after such mighty heroics.
In Game 6 against the Hornets on Friday, Dwyane Wade rose to the occasion, hitting two three-pointers, a step back mid-range shot and blocking a Kemba Walker drive to send the series back to Miami for a Game 7. Just like in 2012 and 2013, it was more of a formality. The series was won, and the Heat just had to take care of business and they did just that Sunday afternoon.
Wade took a step back after saving the team, scoring a modest 12 points, as Goran Dragic grabbed the controls and steered the Heat to victory with 25 points, four assists and six rebounds. Luol Deng added 15 points on six-of-nine shooting and Hassan Whiteside had a double-double with 10 points and 12 rebounds as everyone chipped in for the win.
Here are more notes from the game:
1. Containing Kemba
The Heat had to find a way to contain Kemba Walker in this game. Walker almost single-handedly won Game 6 for the Hornets, scoring 37 points in a performance just as heroic as Wade’s. Walker had been getting to the rim at will, killing Miami with the pick-and-roll.
Erik Spoelstra made an adjustment, having Whiteside eye Walker on every Hornets possession. Whiteside’s had a tough job this series, having to defend Al Jefferson in the post while walling off the rim from Charlotte’s guards. To help him, the Heat doubled Jefferson in the post so that Whiteside could focus on Walker’s drives.
The result? Walker went three-of-16 for nine points. He didn’t get to the rim at the rate he was used to, and had to put up some bad shots. Also, by not getting to the rim, he wasn’t quite the playmaker he was in Game 1 through 6. Walker was the head of the Hornets offense, and Miami cut him off.
2. The rebound advantage
Miami dominated Charlotte on the boards all series and, in Game 7, the Heat out-rebounded the Hornets 58 to 36. What’s more is that the Heat had 10 offensive rebounds to just three for Charlotte. Miami won most of the hustle plays and created second-chance points for themselves, while consistently ending Hornets possessions.
Side note: It’s crazy how far we’ve come since the Big Three Era, now that the Heat are winning games with rebounding.
3. Getting Whiteside involved
One of the things the Hornets were doing in this series was taking away Hassan Whiteside’s rolls to the rim. They doubled him early in the paint, and focused on making sure he didn’t have a wide open lane to the basket. It took away Miami’s pet play, the Whiteside pick-and-roll.
To open up those lanes, the Heat added a second screener to the action. Joe Johnson and Luol Deng would screen for Goran Dragic on the wing, launching the Heat into a spread pick-and-roll (as opposed to the typical high pick-and-roll they run). Then Whiteside would roll to the rim. Doing so opened up things for Whiteside’s rolls and gave Miami’s ball handlers enough room to get him the ball.
4. THE DRAGON
But the story of the game was Goran Dragic, who struggled for so much of this series before going Super Saiyan in Game 7. Dragic scored 17 of his 25 points in the first half, helping Miami to a 54-42 first half advantage.
He was aggressive getting to the rim, and wonderful in the open court.
That’s the kind of Dragic the Heat will need in the next round. The second round of the playoffs will start Tuesday. The Heat will play either the Indiana Pacers or Toronto Raptors, who play Sunday night in their own Game 7. As of the time of this post, that game has not been played.