Charlotte Hornets vs Miami Heat: Game 3 recap and analysis

The Charlotte Hornets bounced back in a big way from a brutal home opener, then almost choked away, then ultimately held on to beat the Miami Heat.

The Summary

It was a much better start for the Hornets than their home opener, which was an imperceptibly low bar to clear, really. They took an early lead over the Heat before Klay Thompson got things going for the visitors with a couple of jumpers. The only thing the Heat had going for them was an absurd number of free throws, unsurprisingly led by Giannis Antetokounmpo. The Hornets were able to cut down on the fouls in the second quarter, and that coincided with them building a modest lead. Ryan Kalkbrenner got extended minutes with Moussa Diabate in foul trouble, and he and Brandon Miller led a strong close to the half. Naz Reid and Dennis Schroder also chipped in strong performances to put the home team up eight at the break.

The Hornets hit the Heat with a couple of jabs coming out of the half then landed an absolute haymaker. They scored 15 straight points in about a three minute stretch to break open a 20 point lead less than halfway through the third quarter. The offense hit a little bit of a lull after a Heat timeout, but a Hornets timeout a couple minutes later reversed the curse. They built that lead back up, and a series of Brandon Miller free throws put the Hornets up 21 to close the third.

The Heat ratcheted up the pressure to start the fourth, and the Hornets did not respond well. They saw their lead rapidly evaporate to within single digits just three-and-a-half minutes into the quarter. A timeout did nothing to stop it. It took only three more minutes for the Heat to fully catch the Hornets at 100 points. It was a 25-4 start to the quarter. Things were looking bleak, and the Hornets had a possession with the shot clock winding down and the ball nowhere near the basket. Grayson Allen fired up a heave with all sorts of contact. He got the whistle, and somehow the shot swished through as pure as could be. A couple possessions later, a Ryan Kalkbrenner offensive rebound extended a possession, and that possession ended with Dennis Schroder drawing a foul on Giannis, fouling him out of the game. The Hornets were able to hang on from there, also benefitting from a rare illegal screen out of bounds on a crucial late possession for the Heat.

The Good

The efficiency was poor, and they made a very conscious effort to avoid pointing that out on the broadcast, but Brandon Miller looked a lot better. An inordinate number of the misses were halfway down before rolling out, and he got better as the game went on. Beyond that, and maybe more importantly, he got to the line a bunch and imposed himself a lot better on the game outside of his scoring. Still not a perfect outing by any means, but he’s trending in the right direction.

Naz Reid lived off difficult buckets and still managed to score 23 points on 16 shots. He also chipped in on some really good team defense against Giannis. Imagine how good he’ll be when he’s also got Coby White and Kon Knueppel to spread the floor for him.

Dennis Schroder hit three eventful 3-pointers in the first half. He didn’t make any for the rest of the game, but he still managed what I thought were a quiet 25 points.

Grayson Allen is a flamethrower. His 4-point play was a lifeline for the Hornets who were badly flailing throughout the fourth quarter up to that point. He also iced the game with the last two free throws. He’s a good basketball player, and if he keeps this up, we might need to start planning a Sixth Man of the Year campaign.

Now for the young guys. First, Ryan Kalkbrenner had another really good game. He came up with a few huge plays late to help put the game away. There was a stretch in the first half where I had the thought “Ryan Kalkbrenner is outplaying Bam Adebayo right now.” The Hornets were +17 with him on the floor, and that wasn’t a fluke.

You could feel Tidjane Salaun’s presence in the game, and in a good way. The stats just show a single made three and three rebounds, but he was a disruptive presence beyond his box score contributions. He too drew some Giannis assignments and did a really good job matching up with him.

The Bad

Christian Anderson checked in, got trapped at half court and turned the ball over, missed two threes, then checked out. It feels like Charles Lee is trying to squeeze some minutes for him if the Hornets can survive those minutes, but it’s not working yet.

Sion James had a better floor game, but he missed all of his shots tonight. He’s now 2-of-17 from the field through three games. It’s gotten to the point where he’s not even looking to shoot, no matter where he is on the floor. He had a few possessions in the second half where he was able to get the ball in the paint but elected to make tough kickout passes or drop offs instead of shooting a simple floater. The Hornets need him to play more confidently on the offensive end of the floor.