Paul, Hornets Too Much for Heat

The Miami Heat faced a challenge on Friday night and were defeated, losing to the New Orleans Hornets 96-93.  The Heat were down all game, but made a late comeback that fell just short as Eddie House missed a three pointer that would have tied the game at the end of regulation.  

New Orleans opened the game strong and led 29-17 at the end of the first quarter - largely in part due to Chris Paul’s driving-and-dishing, which led to his nine assists at the end of the frame.  The Heat struggled on the offensive end early, and did not rebound well throughout the entire game, shown by Chris Bosh’s one rebound in 34 minutes.  

“They came out with a lot of energy,” Dwyane Wade said. “They jumped on us and that caused us to play from behind the whole game. That’s not the game we want to play.”

"We know we can still make a comeback because of the talent that we have, but teams are always going to be excited to play us," LeBron James added. "If we don't match that effort early, then it's always an uphill battle throughout the whole game and that's what it was."

With New Orleans leading 86-79 with five minutes left in the game, Wade stepped up and lead a comeback that fell just short for the Heat.  Wade hit a three pointer in one possession then in the next got fouled shooting a three pointer and hit all three free throws.  With the Heat then down by one, play went back-and-forth until the Heat had the ball down 96-93 and one last chance to tie the game with just over 7 seconds left.  

Coming off the out of bounds play, James passed the ball to Wade at the top of the key, who had a chance to shoot.  Instead, Wade faked the shot, drew the defender towards himself, and passed the ball to House on the wing for the open shot.  House, who was 0-6 from three point range on the night before that shot, shot but the ball rimming out as the buzzer went off.  

When asked about the play after the game, Wade defended his decision to pass up the potential game-tying shot.  "(House) got a great look. We'd live with that shot every game if we had to. He's a great shooter. Unfortunately it just didn't go in."  

Wade finished the game with 28 points and 10 rebounds, with 12 of those 28 points coming in the fourth quarter.  James finished with 20 points and 10 assists in the loss, and Bosh chipped in 15 points.  Zydrunas Ilgauskas came off the bench and added 10 points on 5 of 6 shooting.