Williams, Hornets send Heat to 4th straight defeat 108-103

By James On Feb 26, 2023

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Gordon Hayward scored 21 points, rookie center Mark Williams had a big game with 18 points and 20 rebounds — both career highs — and the Charlotte Hornets defeated 108-108 on Saturday. 103 to the Miami Heat to complete his season. -best fourth consecutive victory.

LaMelo Ball scored 16 of his 19 points in the second half and finished with 13 assists for his sixth straight double-double. Kelly Oubre Jr. and Dennis Smith Jr. each had 15 points coming off the bench for the Hornets.

Tyler Herro had 33 points on six 3-pointers and Jimmy Butler added 28 points as Miami lost its fourth straight game. Kevin Love had 13 points and 13 rebounds in his second game since he joined the Heat.

Herro said losing games on back-to-back nights after the All-Star break was “disappointing.”

“This is a point in the year where we can come together or we can go off and split up,” Herro said.

The Hornets won a split-season series with the Heat, with each team winning twice at home.

Williams was a dominant force on the inside all night for the Hornets and scored the last four points of the game on an alley-oop from Ball and a thunderous dunk from an offensive rebound to help bury the Heat. He finished 9 of 12 from the field.

“I think everyone saw him as a talented defensive rim guard, but he also has the opportunity to be a very good offensive player,” Hornets coach Steve Clifford said of Williams, the 15th overall pick in this year’s draft. past.

Williams took on a starting role when the team sent veteran Mason Plumlee to the Los Angeles Clippers at the trade deadline.

“The more and more I play, the more comfortable I get,” Williams said. “Offensively, getting ready to catch passes from whoever, lobs, drops, on the offensive glass.”

Charlotte led by 22 in the first half before Miami rallied to cut the lead to three at halftime.

But Ball, who was 1-of-11 from the field in the first half, broke out with three 3-pointers in the first three minutes of the third quarter to set the tone for the second half. He added two more crucial 3-pointers in the fourth quarter after Miami cut the lead to one.

“He’s very confident and puts in a lot of time, that gives you confidence,” Clifford said. “He’s working on it and his game is in rhythm, so I think he feels like he can always make it.”

Miami’s offensive struggles (it has failed to reach 110 points in six straight games) lasted into the first half.

The Heat shot 20.8% from the floor in the first quarter to fall behind 29-16. Charlotte extended the lead to 22 in the second quarter before Miami closed the first half on a 24-6 run fueled by 10 points from Love and a pair of 3-pointers from Herro.

“We stepped into a hole and it’s hard to get out of this league with a lot of good teams and good players,” Herro said. “That’s up to us as players to put out the best effort every night.”

Miami would cut the lead to one with less than two minutes left in the game on Bam Adebayo’s dunk and had a chance to take the lead on their next possession. But Adebayo turned the ball over on a fast-break opportunity with 1:30 to play.

Williams made the Heat pay with back-to-back baskets.

Miami failed to score on their last four possessions and turned it over twice.

TIP INS

Heat: Kyle Lowry (left knee pain), Nikola Jovic (lower back stress reaction) and Omer Yurtseven (ankle surgery) did not play. … Butler was 16 of 20 from the free throw line.

Hornets: PJ Washington (right foot soreness) and Cody Martin (left knee soreness) sat out. … Dennis Smith Jr. made a monster one-handed dunk on Max Strus in the second quarter that brought the crowd to its feet, but he was charged with a technical foul for trash talking after the play.

UNTIL NEXT TIME

Heat: In Philadelphia on Monday night.

Hornets: Host Detroit on Monday night.