Written by Rick Bonnell at Charlotte Observer.com
It’s going the full seven games.
The Charlotte Hornets will travel to Miami Sunday for an afternoon finale with the Heat that will decide which team advances to the Eastern Conference semifinals.
The Heat held off a fourth-quarter rally by the Hornets to win in Time Warner Cable Arena 97-90 Friday night. Two 3-pointers by Heat guard Dwyane Wade (he’d made no 3s in the previous five games of this series) came up huge, overcoming Hornets point guard Kemba Walker’s career playoff-best 37 points, including 14 in the fourth quarter.
Wade blocked a Walker layup with seconds left and then the Hornets had no choice but to foul Joe Johnson. He made both free throws to spread the lead to seven.
Three who mattered
Al Jefferson: He played big in the third quarter, scoring 10 points and sending Hassan Whiteside to the bench with a fourth foul.
Walker: He set a new personal best for scoring in a playoff game.
Wade: He finished with 23 points on 10-of-20 shooting.
Observations
▪ The Hornets were without their usual public address announcer, Big Pat, who was out sick.
▪ This was the last game for Fox Sports Southeast telecasts this season. The NBA gives its national television rights holders exclusivity after the first round.
▪ Hornets coach Steve Clifford chose to again use small forward Nic Batum off the bench Friday. Batum was a reserve in Game 5 after returning from ankle and foot injuries.
▪ Batum became a father for the first time when his fiance gave birth to a boy around 1 a.m. Friday. Batum didn’t get much sleep, but he was at the arena for shootaround Friday morning.
▪ The Hornets placed a purple or teal T-shirt on each seat in the arena, with the mid-court line serving as the “border” between the two colors.
