Chris Paul and Emeka Okafor brutally exposed Miami’s defensive flaws the last time when these teams met this season. This time though, Miami came prepared and after a grind-out first half, LeBron James banked in a runner late in the third quarter to spark
life into the explosive Miami offence.
The Heats spearheaded by the phenomenal Dwyane Wade ran riot on the jittery New Orleans Hornets defence in the second half en-route to their ninth consecutive win by double digits as the Heats continue to ride high on their red hot winning streak.
Chris Bosh nailed two jumpers inside the first minute of play to hand a 4-0 advantage to the Heats. The New Orleans Hornets however, after a bad game against Philadelphia 76ers last night were determined to put up a fight.
The Hornets had an answer to every Miami move as they kept pace with their much fancied opponents throughout the first quarter.
The teams entered the second quarter with the score at 25-23 in the favour of the men from the South Beach. The Hornets upped their ante coming into the quarter. After getting into the lead within the first 30 seconds, they tied the game thrice and finally
made a surge with a 9-3 run midway to snatch a 46-40 lead.
The Hornets maintained their advantage until the last minute before the halftime but Wade spoiled their advantage as he ripped in a three pointer and followed it with driving reverse lay-up shot to make it a single point game (53-54) at the interval.
Wade scored 20 points in the second quarter as the Heats barely managed to keep the Hornets progress in check.
The flip-flop action continued in the third quarter as neither team was willing to let the momentum slip. The match was tied 4 times and the lead changed hands 7 times inside the first six minutes of the frame before Miami started to make the push.
With the score at 76-75 in their advantage and 1:30 left until the buzzer, Miami launched a 9-point unanswered spurt bridging the third and the fourth quarter that proved to be the turning point of the match. The Heats snared an 86-75 lead early in the final
frame and they never looked back.
Dwyane Wade spearheaded another 8-0 run midway to deliver the knock-out punch to the Hornets as Miami sealed the match at 96-84.
Wade got into the thirties for the third time in as many games as he led the Heats charge with 32 points, shooting 8-for-13 from inside the arc, 14-for-17 from the free throw line and complemented it with 2-for-3 from downtown. Chris Bosh finished with 23
points and 11 rebounds while LeBron James had 20 points and 7 assists as the Big Three combined for 75 points.
David West led the Hornets with 26 points and 12 rebounds while Trevor Ariza and Chris Paul also got into the double figure but their endeavours were not enough to prevent the Hornets from slipping to their 9 loss in the last twelve games.
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