GAME THREAD: GAME THREAD: NBA: CHARLOTTE (1-0) at MIAMI (0-2)

NBA: CHARLOTTE at MIAMI

<div class="pre">NBA CHARLOTTE 85
MIAMI 81 2:47 LEFT, 4TH QTR</div>

 

NBA: CHARLOTTE at MIAMI

<div class="pre">NBA CHARLOTTE 88
MIAMI 86 0:15 LEFT, 4TH QTR</div>

 

NBA: CHARLOTTE at MIAMI

<div class="pre">NBA CHARLOTTE 90
MIAMI 88 FINAL</div>

 

NBA: CHARLOTTE at MIAMI

<div class="pre">NBA FINAL 1ST 2ND 3RD 4TH TOTAL
--- --- --- --- -----
CHARLOTTE 27 28 20 15 90
MIAMI 27 21 15 25 88 FINAL

HIGH SCORERS: CHA - JASON RICHARDSON 29, RAYMOND FELTON 19,
EMEKA OKAFOR 16
MIA - UDONIS HASLEM 18, SHAQUILLE O'NEAL 17,
RICKY DAVIS 12</div>

 

MIAMI (Ticker) -- The Miami Heat threw away a chance tocomplete a late rally and continued their early slide.

The Heat overcame a big deficit to tie the game late, but a pairof late turnovers and some clutch free-throw shooting by theCharlotte Bobcats resulted in another loss for the Heat, 90-88,on Sunday.


Miami is 0-3 for the first time since 2003-04, while Charlotteis 2-0 for the first time in its history.


Jason Richardson scored 29 points for the Bobcats, who led by 16in the fourth before the Heat came roaring back.


With the game tied at 86-86, Raymond Felton made a pair from theline with 50 seconds to play. On the ensuing possession, Miamiguard Chris Quinn got into the lane but his kick-out pass wasintercepted by Gerald Wallace.


Felton, who scored 19 points, then had his layup blocked byShaquille O'Neal with 16 seconds to go, but the Heat turned theball over again as Ricky Davis threw a pass inside that wentacross the court and out of bounds with 2.2 seconds remaining.

Udonis Haslem scored 18 points and added 10 rebounds and O'Nealscored 17 points for the Heat.

 

NBA: CHARLOTTE at MIAMI

<div class="pre">CHARLOTTE (90) AT MIAMI (88)

CHARLOTTE

REBOUNDS
PLAYER POS MIN FGM-FGA FTM-FTA OFF-DEF-TOT AST PF ST TO PTS
====== === === ======= ======= =========== === == == == ===

G WALLACE F 40:23 4-11 4-5 1 5 6 2 4 1 3 13
E OKAFOR F 38:31 7-13 2-3 3 10 13 2 3 3 0 16
P BREZEC C 22:20 1-4 0-0 1 1 2 1 3 0 3 2
R FELTON G 42:01 7-14 4-4 0 4 4 7 3 2 5 19
J RICHARDSON G 43:53 10-16 3-5 2 3 5 1 4 1 5 29
J MCINNIS 24:08 1-4 2-2 0 2 2 5 2 1 1 4
J DUDLEY 10:32 1-2 2-2 0 2 2 0 0 0 0 4
M CARROLL 7:29 0-2 0-0 1 2 3 0 1 0 1 0
R HOLLINS 7:38 1-3 1-1 1 2 3 0 3 0 0 3
W HERRMANN 3:05 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0
D ANDERSON DNP - COACH'S DECISION
J DAVIDSON DNP - COACH'S DECISION

TOTALS 240:00 32-69 18-22 9 31 40 19 24 8 18 90
(.464) (.818) TEAM REBS: 3 TOTAL TO: 19 (23 PTS)

MIAMI

REBOUNDS
PLAYER POS MIN FGM-FGA FTM-FTA OFF-DEF-TOT AST PF ST TO PTS
====== === === ======= ======= =========== === == == == ===

D WRIGHT F 37:42 3-8 5-6 1 5 6 2 4 1 0 11
U HASLEM F 37:21 9-17 0-1 5 5 10 2 2 2 2 18
S O'NEAL C 31:43 8-11 1-2 3 6 9 2 5 0 1 17
J WILLIAMS G 32:16 3-11 1-1 1 0 1 5 3 1 2 7
R DAVIS G 32:23 5-11 0-0 0 3 3 3 2 1 5 12
A MOURNING 16:17 1-3 6-8 2 2 4 0 0 0 1 8
C QUINN 15:46 1-3 2-2 0 2 2 2 0 1 1 4
D COOK 17:57 0-4 4-4 0 2 2 0 1 0 0 4
P HARDAWAY 18:35 3-7 1-2 0 3 3 3 1 0 0 7
M BLOUNT DNP - COACH'S DECISION
S PARKER DNP - COACH'S DECISION
A JOHNSON DNP - COACH'S DECISION

TOTALS 240:00 33-75 20-26 12 28 40 19 18 6 12 88
(.440) (.769) TEAM REBS: 6 TOTAL TO: 12 (18 PTS)

CHARLOTTE 27 28 20 15 - 90
MIAMI 27 21 15 25 - 88

BLOCKED SHOTS: CHARLOTTE - E OKAFOR. MIAMI - S O'NEAL 2, A MOURNING,
D WRIGHT.
3-PT. FIELD GOALS: CHARLOTTE 8-18 (.444), G WALLACE 1-3, R FELTON 1-
2, J RICHARDSON 6-11, J MCINNIS 0-1, M CARROLL 0-1. MIAMI 2-12 (.167),
D WRIGHT 0-1, J WILLIAMS 0-3, R DAVIS 2-4, C QUINN 0-1, D COOK 0-
3.
TECHNICAL FOULS: NONE.
FLAGRANT FOULS: NONE.
OFFICIALS: ERIC LEWIS, JAMES CAPERS, JIM CLARK.
A - 19,600. T - 2:17.</div>

 

NBA: CHARLOTTE at MIAMI

<div class="pre">CHARLOTTE (90)

fg ft rb
min m-a m-a o-t a pf tp
G Wallace 40:23 4-11 4-5 1-6 2 4 13
E Okafor 38:31 7-13 2-3 3-13 2 3 16
P Brezec 22:20 1-4 0-0 1-2 1 3 2
R Felton 42:01 7-14 4-4 0-4 7 3 19
J Richardson 43:53 10-16 3-5 2-5 1 4 29
J McInnis 24:08 1-4 2-2 0-2 5 2 4
J Dudley 10:32 1-2 2-2 0-2 0 0 4
M Carroll 7:29 0-2 0-0 1-3 0 1 0
R Hollins 7:38 1-3 1-1 1-3 0 3 3
W Herrmann 3:05 0-0 0-0 0-0 1 1 0
D Anderson DNP - COACH'S DECISION
J Davidson DNP - COACH'S DECISION

______________________________________________________
TOTALS 240:00 32-69 18-22 9-40 19 24 90
______________________________________________________

Percentages: FG-.464, FT-.818. 3-Point Goals:
8-18, .444 (G Wallace 1-3, R Felton 1-2, J
Richardson 6-11, J McInnis 0-1, M Carroll
0-1). Team Rebounds: 3. Blocked Shots:1 (E
Okafor). Turnovers:18 (J Richardson 5, R
Felton 5, G Wallace 3, P Brezec 3, J McInnis,
M Carroll). Steals: 8 (E Okafor 3, R Felton
2, J McInnis, G Wallace, J Richardson).


MIAMI (88)

fg ft rb
min m-a m-a o-t a pf tp
D Wright 37:42 3-8 5-6 1-6 2 4 11
U Haslem 37:21 9-17 0-1 5-10 2 2 18
S O'Neal 31:43 8-11 1-2 3-9 2 5 17
J Williams 32:16 3-11 1-1 1-1 5 3 7
R Davis 32:23 5-11 0-0 0-3 3 2 12
A Mourning 16:17 1-3 6-8 2-4 0 0 8
C Quinn 15:46 1-3 2-2 0-2 2 0 4
D Cook 17:57 0-4 4-4 0-2 0 1 4
P Hardaway 18:35 3-7 1-2 0-3 3 1 7
M Blount DNP - COACH'S DECISION
S Parker DNP - COACH'S DECISION
A Johnson DNP - COACH'S DECISION

______________________________________________________
TOTALS 240:00 33-75 20-26 12-40 19 18 88
______________________________________________________

Percentages: FG-.440, FT-.769. 3-Point Goals:
2-12, .167 (D Wright 0-1, J Williams 0-3, R
Davis 2-4, C Quinn 0-1, D Cook 0-3). Team
Rebounds: 6. Blocked Shots:4 (S O'Neal 2, A
Mourning, D Wright). Turnovers:12 (R Davis 5,
J Williams 2, U Haslem 2, S O'Neal, A
Mourning, C Quinn). Steals: 6 (U Haslem 2, J
Williams, C Quinn, D Wright, R Davis).

-------------------------------------------
CHARLOTTE 27 28 20 15 - 90
MIAMI 27 21 15 25 - 88
-------------------------------------------

Technical fouls: None.
Flagrant fouls: None. A: 19,600. T: 2:17.
Officials: Eric Lewis, James Capers, Jim
Clark.</div>

 

NBA: CHARLOTTE at MIAMI

<div class="pre">** CONFIRMED **
NBA
CHARLOTTE 90
MIAMI 88 FINAL</div>

 

MIAMI (Ticker) -- The Miami Heat threw away a chance tocomplete a late rally and continued their early slide.

The Heat overcame a big deficit to tie the game late, but a pairof late turnovers and some clutch free-throw shooting by theCharlotte Bobcats resulted in another loss for the Heat, 90-88,on Sunday.


Miami is 0-3 for the first time since 2003-04, whileCharlotte is 2-0 for the first time in its history.

"(2-0) is a streak for us," Bobcats coach Sam Vincent said. "Ithink we won four games in the month of November last year.Jason Richardson was great today. We acquired Jason to be thego-to guy, the scorer, and he was all that tonight. He shot theball very well and he defended very well."


Richardson, who came over from Golden State in an offseasontrade, scored 29 points for the Bobcats, who led by 16 in thefourth before the Heat came roaring back.


"It seemed like everything was going for me," Richardson said."It's fun when you get to that level where everything is goingin. It gives you confidence and your teammates confidence andyou play harder on the other end. It's an amazing feeling whenyou've got your shot going like that."


With the game tied at 86-86, Raymond Felton made a pair from theline with 50 seconds to play. On the ensuing possession, Miamiguard Chris Quinn got into the lane but his kick-out pass wasintercepted by Gerald Wallace.


Felton, who scored 19 points,then had his layup blocked by Shaquille O'Neal with 16 secondsto go, but the Heat turned the ball over again as Ricky Davisthrew a pass inside that went across the court and out of boundswith 2.2 seconds remaining.


"Chris, I think, he tried to lob the ball to Shaq," Heat coachPat Riley said. "I think that's the play he was trying to make.They simply deflected it. ... Ricky made the right play, too.He just fired it 9,000 miles-an-hour. Shaq's hands were rightthere."


"You've just got to make that pass and got to make that play,"Davis said. "It was a big play for us. The pass was too hard."

Udonis Haslem scored 18 points and added 10 rebounds and O'Nealscored 17 points for the Heat.


"We just kept going to J-Rich," Bobcats guard Jeff McInnis said."He's a great player. He can stretch the court with histhrees, go inside and get fouls, and he plays a good post-upgame. He's a great go-to guy."


Trailing, 85-75, with 5:31 left, Miami went on a 10-1 run to tiethe game, 86-86, when Quinn found Davis open for three in theright corner.


But for the Heat, who haven't been the same since winning theNBA title in 2006, things didn't click after that.

"We ran something we are very familiar with at the end," Rileysaid. "We got the ball to Ricky. Ricky had a baseline move. Ithink if he had taken one more dribble to the middle, heprobably could have gotten all the way to the middle."

The Heat had an "atrocious" - to use Riley's term - thirdquarter, shooting just 7-of-22 from the field.


<div class="pre">O'Neal hit 4-of-5 shots in the first half, for eight points,</div>but was limited to just 13 minutes due to foul trouble. Thiscoming on the heels of two games in which he was whistled for 11fouls.


Richardson had 18 points in the first half for Charlotte,nailing 4-of-6 shots from the arc.


The game was tied, 27-27, after one quarter, but with O'Neal onthe bench, Charlotte pushed the lead to nine on Richardson'slayup just before the break. The Bobcats led 55-48 at halftime.

Charlotte had a scare when Wallace drove to the basket and camedown hard after a collision with Alonzo Mourning and DorrellWright with 9:05 to play in the second. He grabbed his left kneeand was down on the court for a few minutes, but returnedshortly thereafter.


Charlotte was coming off an Opening Night, 102-99, victory overMilwaukee, despite shooting 51 percent at the free-throw line.Against the Heat, however, the Bobcats converted on 18-of-22attempts.


"It feels great," Wallace said of the team's start. "Just theconfidence that the team has. A lot of times, we've been in biggames and we've had the lead and around the fourth quarter theytie the game up, we'd get confused or the team wouldn't knowwhat to do.


"I think the last two games the team has made progress, and theyknow how to control the offense and defense."


Without All-Star guard Dwyane Wade, who has been given clearanceto return to full-contact in practice after offseason shoulderand knee surgeries, the Heat have struggled early in findingsomeone to attack the rim and get to the free-throw line.

"We are close," O'Neal said. "We are still making a lot ofsilly mistakes. These past few games we were just shootingourselves in the foot, so we just have to do a little bitbetter."