NBA Recap: New Orleans Hornets hold their nerves to edge out Miami Heat 96-93
The New Orleans Hornets had an unbeaten start to the season, but the odds were heavily stacked against them on Friday night as they faced a formidable Miami team boasting of some of the elite players in the league. The Hornets
sent huge shockwaves on the night, though, as they chilled out a red hot Miami team at the New Orleans Arena in front of a 17,988 strong crowd.
Miami Heat had been on a roll ever since their first defeat in the season opener, and they were tipped to be the clear favourites going into the match. Emeka Okafor had other ideas though, as he scored 26 points to lead the Hornets
to a three-point victory over the Heats at 96-93.
The Hornets started the match in style, turning the Heat on Miami in the first quarter. Trevor Ariza slipped in two three-pointers within a span of 32 seconds to give Hornets a 12-4 lead early in the first half. Emeka Okafor scored
11 points in the period, ripping through the stumbling defence of the Heats, as the Hornets raced to a 29-17 advantage in the quarter.
The Heats tried to gain some momentum in the second period and started on a more convincing note. Eddie House made a superb pass to assist an Udonis Haslem dunk and then slipped in a layup shot to cut the Hornets lead to six points
going into the sixth minute. James Jones then made a 3-pointer to make it a 4 point game at 37-41 with 3:01 to go. The Hornets, though, rallied back to a 9-4 run in the last three minutes as the teams headed to the locker rooms with the score poised at 50-41.
The Heats tried to claw their way back into the match in the third quarter, but every time Heats tried to press, Hornets countered back to restore their advantage.
The final period started with the Hornets holding onto an 8 point advantage at 72-64. The Heats made a final push for the win in that period as they really stepped up their pace. Dwyane Wade made a series of free throws and a LeBron
James 3-pointer with 59.8 seconds to go gave the Heats lead at 90-89.
The Hornets were not willing to let the match go that easily and they bounced right back with Marco Belinelli making two free throws and then Ariza scoring a crucial 3-pointer with 14 seconds to go to make it a 4 point game at
94-90. Chris Bosh retaliated for the Heats, with a 3-pointer of his own to keep the Heats at a one point deficit with 7.5 seconds to go.
The dying seconds had further drama in store as David West made two free throws on a Haslem foul to increase the advantage to three points again. The pensive Heats made a final surge but Eddie House missed a 3-pointer as the Hornets
edged out the Heats.
Emeka Okafor led the scoring with 26 points, out of which 14 came in the first half, along with 13 rebounds. Chris Paul was also in the groove as he made most of the play for the Hornets with an incredible 19 assists and also chipped
in with 13 points. Five of the New Orleans featured in the double figures as they shot 39-for-79.
For the Heats, Dwyane Wade again led the charge with 28 points and 10 boards, LeBron James also scored 20 with 10 assists while Chris Bosh also chipped in with 15 points. The ‘Big Three’ scored 63 of the Heats points, but it was
not enough for Miami to cross the line as New Orleans overcame a star-studded team to make it 5-0 in the season.
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