By Sam Perley, hornets.com
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Result A strong first-quarter start soon went south for the Hornets as they dropped their season opener to the Heat, 104-94, on Wednesday, Oct. 28, in Miami. Despite holding a 27-23 lead at the end of the first, the Hornets managed just 33 total points in the next two quarters, allowing the Heat to quickly pull away from Charlotte before halftime. Kemba Walker led the way for Charlotte with a team-high 19 points while Chris Bosh poured in a game-high 21 points to lead Miami in the win.
Turning Points The Hornets let a four-point lead at the end of the first quarter quickly disappear in the second as Miami outscored Charlotte, 31-17, in the frame to take a double-digit advantage into halftime. The Heat did most of its damage against the Hornets from behind the arc as it hit four-consecutive 3-pointers in in the span of about three minutes late in the quarter to stretch the lead to 13. Kemba Walker hit a 3-pointer of his own with a second remaining in the second quarter to trim Miami’s lead to 54-44 at the break. Charlotte made things interesting late in the second half but ultimately couldn’t overcome the rough second quarter as it fell to the Heat, 104-94.
Inside the Box Score Kemba Walker tallied a team-high 19 points on 5-of-16 shooting from the field, four rebounds and a team-high four assists… Al Jefferson finished with 17 points and five rebounds… Jeremy Lin also tallied 17 points on 5-of-10 shooting from the field off the bench… Marvin Williams finished with a double-double, tacking on 10 points and 10 rebounds. Williams had jut one double-double the entire 2014-15 NBA season… Cody Zeller chipped in seven points and a game-high 12 rebounds off the bench for the Hornets. Zeller recorded double-digit rebounds in seven out of 62 games played last season… Miami’s Chris Bosh also tallied a double-double, finishing with team-highs in both points (21) and rebounds (10) for the Heat… Dwyane Wade scored 20 points and also added five assists… Gerald Green finished with 19 points while shooting 5-of-8 from three-point range… Luol Deng also scored in double figures with 13 points… Goran Dragic tallied eight points and a team-high six assists for the Heat… Miami shot 12-of-20 from three-point range (60.0 percent) while Charlotte made just 6-of-24 attempts (25.0 percent) from behind the arc. This would have been the second-best 3-point shooting performance for the Heat in the 2014-15 NBA season (70.0 percent)… the Hornets limited Miami to just two offensive rebounds, which would have tied their lowest offensive rebounds allowed in any game during the 2014-15 NBA season.
Hornets Player of the Game Al Jefferson finished with 17 points on 8-of-14 shooting from the field and five rebounds in just 22 minutes of play to lead the Hornets in the loss. Jefferson also scored 13 of his 22 points in the first quarter for Charlotte
Heat Player of the Game Chris Bosh looked stellar in his first regular season game back after a blood clot in lung ended his 2014-15 season prematurely. Bosh tallied a double-double with team highs in both points (21) and rebounds (10) and was also nearly perfect from the free-throw line, connecting on 9-of-10 attempts.
Game Notes Jeremy Lamb (ankle) and Troy Daniels (hamstring) did not play for Charlotte… Amar’e Stoudemire (rest) did not play for Miami… P.J. Hairston made his third-career NBA start… Charlotte has lost 12-consecutive regular season road games to the Heat. Its last win in Miami was on Jan. 2, 2010.
Next Up The Hornets will take on the Hawks at 8 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 30 in Atlanta. The game can be seen on FOX Sports Southeast or heard on WFNZ or on the official Charlotte Hornets mobile app.
