Miles Bridges scored 35 points to lead the Charlotte Hornets to a comeback win over the Miami Heat, 105-102.
The Summary
The Heat have been terrible offensively of late, so of course the Hornets let them get hot early for 14 really quick points in about four minutes. They ended up allowing 34 first quarter points to a bad offensive team. Andrew Wiggins bullied his way to 12 of those, and the Heat led by 13 after one.
The poor defense carried into the second quarter as the Hornets fell behind by as many as 17. They started to get the hang of the zone the Heat had been in all game and started climbing back into the game. Miles Bridges served as the main catalyst for the run. By halftime, the Hornets had gotten within six.
Both teams struggled to start the second half. The Hornets only scored two points in the first four minutes, but the Heat didn’t do much better. A timeout seemed to be the much needed antidote, as it was immediately followed by two threes and a behind the back dime from LaMelo to Mark Williams. Williams made a couple more buckets to put the Hornets ahead and force a Heat timeout. Miami responded with their own little run and ended the third quarter up four.
The Hornets got off to a very poor offensive start to the fourth quarter and fell behind by 11 points with about seven minutes to play. Mark Williams pushed in a little floater to break the seal, then Malachi Flynn got fouled shooting a three and made all the free throws. Bridges tied the game with a step back three over Bam Adebayo. He gave the Hornets the lead with a pump fake and three off the dribble after the teams had traded a few buckets, then hit another three on the next possession. After a Heat miss, LaMelo found Mark Williams leaking out after contesting a three, and his dunk but the Hornets up four with 20 seconds left. Bam Adebayo made a corner three, but that was answered by a pair of Bridges free throws.
Adebayo got another open look to tie it, this time from the top of the key, but he airballed it. The Hornets couldn’t make it an easy win though. Nick Smith Jr. bobbled the inbound pass out of bounds, giving it right back to the Heat. Tyler Herro got a good look at it, but he drew front rim as the final buzzer sounded.
The Good
Another stellar performance from Miles Bridges. He scored 35 points on just 19 shots and was pulling a lot of strings with the ball offensively. As has been the case lately, he went after weaker Heat defenders in one on one situations for both baskets at the rim and dimes to teammates. He closed the game with three straight made threes to push the Hornets over the edge. It’s his fourth game of 35+ points in his last 11. He’s looking more and more like a high potential piece for a good team.
Mark Williams had a very good game on both ends of the floor. He was more engaged defensively than he has been in some of his weaker performances. He complemented that with aggressive play inside, especially after the first quarter. There’s no reason Mark can’t have this kind of impact every game. He just has to figure out how to bring it every night.
The Hornets only turned the ball over 10 times. It was one of their cleaner offensive games aside from all the missed shots.
You could argue that the Hornets won this game at the free throw line. They made 22-of-23 from the stripe. The Heat missed six of their attempts, which is more than the difference in the final score.
The Bad
LaMelo Ball has gotta start making some shots. He was 5-of-21 from the field and 2-of-12 from three. He’s now shot sub-40% from the field in seven straight games. Outside of a stretch in the early third quarter, I didn’t think his shot selection was particularly bad. He’s just not making shots. There almost seems to be a little doubt in his game right now, which is very uncharacteristic for him.
The Heat played a lot of zone seemingly believing that the Hornets wouldn’t be able to shoot the ball well enough to counter it. They were right. The Hornets only made 25% of their 44 attempts from range. Take out Miles Bridges, and the rest of the team was 6-of-33. The Hornets badly need people that can make jump shots.
Brandon Miller’s game day fit. Not it. Looking like a luxury UPS driver.
What’s Next
The Hornets continue the road trip with another southeast divisional matchup against the Hawks on Wednesday.