Terry Rozier had 28 points and seven assists, but he couldn’t help the Charlotte Hornets overcome a rough middle two quarters as they lost to the Miami Heat, 115-104.

Summary

The teams put on an offensive clinic to start the game. The Hornets put four points on the board before the Heat even possessed the ball thanks to a Terry Rozier steal in the backcourt, and they scored 12 points before they missed a shot. The Heat went step for step until player substitutions and whistles broke the rhythm of the game. Both teams went cold and ended up combining for only 45 points in the first quarter.

The script flipped a little in the second quarter. The Heat started the quarter hot, but the Hornets quickly responded to keep the game tight. Gordon Hayward ratcheted up his aggressiveness and relentlessly attacked the basket. We also saw him dribble into a pull-up three in transition, which is rare for him. He finished the half with 16 points on just seven shots. When he cooled off, so did the Hornets. The Heat finished with 11 straight points to close the half, the last of which were a flailing 22-foot jumper by Caleb Martin trying to draw a foul. That 11 point run was the difference in the score at the break.

The Heat absolutely blitzed the Hornets coming out of the half. They dominated the paint and started the half with a 14-6 run to bust open a 19 point lead and force a Hornets timeout. The Hornets briefly made a counter run, but the Heat answered and ballooned their lead over 20 with back to back threes from Jamal Cain to take the game into the fourth quarter.

To provide some solace, Brandon Miller arrived after being absent for the first three quarters of the game. He scored 11 of his 18 poitns in the period The Hornets made a modest push to make the Heat slightly uncomfortable, but they never truly threatened despite some very hot fourth quarter shooting.

The Good

Terry Rozier continued his strong play as the team’s star point guard. He finished with 28 points on 10-of-14 shooting with seven assists and four steals. He’s arguably the best player on the team at creating offense out of nothing.

Gordon Hayward seems to have regained his form after a couple of really really rough weeks. I think we need a Hayward-meter to measure where he’s at. At the beginning of the year he was a solid vet, then he had a couple weeks of being washed, and now I think he’s a key contributor. He had a few spurts where he played with a lot of aggression, and he can be tough to stop when he’s feeling it.

Brandon Miller continues to show a ton of resolve, especially for a rookie. This is the second or third time in the last couple of weeks where he’s had a really rough first half then bounced back to put in a strong shift. He was 1-of-8 from the field at halftime in this one. He finished 7-of-16 from the field with 18 points.

The Bad

PJ Washington left the game with a shoulder injury. I’m not sure what happened, but he’s been wearing sleeves under his jersey for the last couple of games, so it’s possible it’s something that’s been lingering.

JT Thor was thrust into duty with Mark Williams out and PJ Washington forced to depart early. He attempted two shots in 16 minutes and missed both. He finished the game with zero points and three fouls. Beyond that, he had a couple of bad mental lapses as part of the Heat’s pull away in the second quarter. He fouled Kyle Lowry on a 3-pointer after biting on a pump fake, then a couple of possessions later got lost in no man’s land while his cover Duncan Robinson got open in the corner for three. The Hornets were -19 in his 16 minutes.

The Hornets committed 21 turnovers, and ten of them were live ball. They kind of canceled that out by forcing 21 turnovers out of the Heat, but you’d prefer to get an advantage our of forcing 21 turnovers, not a wash.