Hornets in Miami today to take on Dwyane Wade and the Heat. Our guys looking to build on their current three-game winning streak and coming off impressive wins over the Suns and Hawks. How will they fare on the road? Game tips at 5 p.m. Central.
Miami were riding high after starting the season 7-2, but have since dropped three straight games. They last played in Toronto on Friday, losing 113-120 despite Wade scoring 30. The Heat have been giving up a lot of points recently, with their opponents going for 100+ in four of the last five.
Starting Heat forward Udonis Haslem has missed the last two games with a shoulder injury. The Miami Herald lists him as probable for today's game, while Quentin Richardson is doubtful with a back injury. According to Peninsula is Mightier, the absence of those two guys is a big reason for Miami's defensive struggles of late.
Linkage:
- Rival bloggers: Hot Hot Hoops | Peninsula is Mightier | South Florida Sun-Sentinel
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22 legendary comments post your own
mW
11/22/09 03:18 PM
You never like to win because the other team has key players hurt, but no one was crying for us last year when we were banged up (or now). So I hope we can really take it to the Heat and rack up another win.
www.hornetshype.com #1
Lancelot
11/22/09 03:34 PM
I think we've got to take what we can get at this point, and just continue to rack up as many wins as we can while CP is out. The Heat have played really well up until recently, and this can still continue the trend of measuring stick games that we've played lately.
It would be very nice to win this one, and the next two, and have some momentum, and a nice little win streak riding into Los Angeles.
#2
420ftJesus
11/22/09 04:30 PM
The Wade-Collison matchup will be very informative. I don't expect him to win battles at a 0.500 rate or anything, but seeing him against one of the best should give us a picture of what he can do, in flashes at least.
I'm sure there are other intersting matchups in the game, but this one is probably the rarest opportunity.
#3
ChrisTrew.com
11/22/09 04:35 PM
You guys are going to enjoy the third quarter when Thorton dunks on Wade.
www.christrew.com #4
420ftJesus
11/22/09 05:11 PM
Trew: Does your prescience help you improvise? Is it improvising if you know what the other person is going to say?
I'm looking for D to break the chains tonight and show some offense.
#5
mW
11/22/09 05:16 PM
@ChrisTrew. Yeak, I saw that too. It was awesome. Don't give away too much, though.
www.hornetshype.com #6
JChangNZ
11/22/09 05:16 PM
Inactives for tonight
Hilton Armstrong (due to aggravating his shoulder injury), Ike Diogu and Chris Paul
#7
mW
11/22/09 05:38 PM
After a really cool shooting start, Hornets starting to look good. Now if he can just put together some stops and make a run...
www.hornetshype.com #8
mW
11/22/09 05:55 PM
And now Team Thornton takes the lead after scoring 15 in 11 minutes, including 10 straight Hornets' points. Damn.
www.hornetshype.com #9
hio1515
11/22/09 06:03 PM
Ok Thornton's play in this game raises one important question: Can we fire Byron Scott again?
#10
winze
11/22/09 06:42 PM
ya fire him again
too short to play in the NBA.......... pfffft
much happier with the bench and how the 2nd unit will look once CP3 is back
Thornton should still play off the bench, and we should run a defensive minded SG in the starting line up.
Mo-pete can stay on the bench the rest of the season
#11
hio1515
11/22/09 06:45 PM
The Miami announcer won't stop saying okafer instead of okafor. Driving me crazy
#12
Jib
11/22/09 06:49 PM
what the heck is up with West he is doing horrible the past few games
#13
Zwie
11/22/09 06:57 PM
anyway i can stream the last few minutes?!?!!?
#14
mW
11/22/09 07:04 PM
Back down to 3 with one Q to go. Let's hope Bower/Floyd can draw up a strategy to stop Wade, if so, I think we can pull this out.
www.hornetshype.com #15
winze
11/22/09 07:08 PM
well Devin Brown can't guard wade plus his almost fouled out...
turn Wade into a jump shooter is the only thing i can think of that mite work? keep him outa the lanes and get a hand in his face every shot.
Push the tempo when we have the ball, let Collison full court press Wade as well
#16
Zwie
11/22/09 07:52 PM
just curious?!?!?
Emeka only 13 minutes??
injury??
we could have used him on that last play.. such a broken play :(
#17
BeesGivingEffort
11/22/09 08:02 PM
David West blew the game for us at the end. Not only did he throw up a stupid shot but he also took 12 seconds to do so with us down 1. How silly can you be?
#18
Niall Doherty
11/22/09 08:07 PM
Not sure what West was thinking on that final play. A clear out for him up high should never be a go-to move. I doubt that's what Tim Floyd was drawing up in the last timeout. Shame, too, because I kept a close eye on West in this one and I thought he battled hard much of the night; not much laziness that I could see.
Thornton was ridiculous early, but for the first time he looked a little shook when matched up with Wade. Still a great game for him, and his D on Wade late was pretty good.
I thought the Hornets offense didn't look great in this one. Seemed they reverted to a lot of one-on-one play or the two-man game. Second game of a back-to-back might have had something to do with that. I'm glad they have a lot of practice time coming up.
Defense was sloppy too, with the Heat getting a bunch of easy baskets.
Not sure what was up with Okafor. Posey was playing well so maybe Bower decided to keep him in there instead.
Still very proud of the team overall after this one. Once again, they showed a lot of fight and never quit. Two wins out of these past three is more than I could have hoped for.
www.ndoherty.com #19
GoDallas
11/22/09 09:55 PM
I don't know what you saw... Wests final play looked almost perfect to me. the only thing he botched was the execution. Why are you insulting his clockwork? down 1 you want to shoot a buzzerbeater no matter what.
#20
Jared_W_H
11/22/09 10:19 PM
@GoDallas - Not sure you watched the game. Nothing is perfect about David West burning 5 seconds at the top of the key before releasing a contested jump shot. I mean, we were indeed dependent on jump shots from a handful of players, but West was not one of them. I think every single Hornets fan watching the game groaned as that ill-fated shot was taken by DW.
#21
BeesGivingEffort
11/22/09 10:53 PM
@GoDallas: Take a shot. If it doesn't go in you have another shot at the tie after the free throws at the worst. On top of it, there is the possibility of the putback. Down 2 or 3, I would say that is a completely different story and you run all the way down to the buzzer for those 2 as the odds of them missing clutch free throws are slim but hey some teams have proven me wrong on that one earlier this season *cough* =)
This one hurts though. I'm proud of the effort but I thought we had it. We were getting sooo close to .500
#22