The Miami Heat got off to a fast start, but ended up blowing a 19-point second half lead, and lost to the Charlotte Hornets in their first home game of the season.
Things looked great for the Miami Heat early. They were hitting threes, distributing the ball nicely, and attacking the paint. However, after Hassan Whiteside got whistled for his fourth foul with 7:40 left in the third quarter, things quickly fell apart. In the end, Charlotte went on an obscene 48-19 run and the Heat, who were up by as many as 19 points, found themselves down 10. Despite a late run powered by Whiteside, the deficit proved to be too great, and the Heat fell to 1-1 on the season.
The Heat dominated most of the first half, going into half time up 57-46. They held Charlotte to 32% shooting, and only 3 three-pointers. In particular, the Heat did a great job of limiting Nicolas Batum and Kemba Walker, who shot a paltry 4/16 in the opening two periods.
After Hassan Whiteside quickly got called for two fouls in the third quarter, the game completely changed for Charlotte. Whiteside being forced to sit allowed Charlotte a lot more space on offense, and they were able to attack the rim, draw fouls, and kick it to open shooters.
Walker finished the game with 24 points and 4 assists, while Batum finished with 12 points, 6 boards, 4 assists and 2 steals.
Another bad sign for Miami was the fact that Charlotte’s bench outscored their own 51-28 for the game. In particular, Jeremy Lamb was a silent star for the Hornets, scoring 16 points and taking over in the second half.
Whiteside sitting didn’t only help Charlotte offensively, but it helped their elite defense put the clamps on Miami. Charlotte was able to pack the paint and force Miami to shoot three-pointers all night, and although the Heat made 14 of them, it took them 34 attempts.
At this point, Miami is simply a better team when they can get into the paint and not be forced to settle for deep jumpers. Miami’s offense definitely missed the spacing that would have been provided by Josh Richardson and Wayne Ellington, who are both still nursing injuries but could be back soon. Miami’s offense simply crumbled without Whiteside’s ability to force the defense to react to him and dedicate extra defenders to slowing him down.
Here’s how the Heat graded out for the game:
Miami’s road does not get any easier, as they host the undefeated San Antonio Spurs on Sunday, at 6:00 PM.