Miami

Heat Drop Game Three of Series to Hornets

The Heat lead their series with the Hornets 2-1 after falling on Saturday in Charlotte

The Miami Heat fell to the Charlotte Hornets on Saturday by a final score of 96-80 in their first loss of the playoffs.

The Heat still lead the best-of-seven series two games to one and maintain their homecourt advantage. Miami struggled to make baskets after having record breaking wins in the first two games of the series. As is common in the NBA, Charlotte looked like a different team on its homecourt.

Going into the half, the Hornets held a five-point lead and the game was well within reach. Things changed in the third quarter however as the Hornets increased their lead to 17. At that point, Miami's chances of making it a 3-0 series became slim. The fourth quarter was mostly a wash with the score barely changing.

Hassan Whiteside posted his biggest numbers of the series thus far despite the loss. Whiteside scored 13 points to go along with 18 rebounds and four blocks. The center played 34 big minutes and posted a strong performance from start to finish.

Dwyane Wade scored 17 points, tallied seven rebounds and had an assist in the loss. It wasn't Wade's biggest game but as is the norm, Wade was active on both ends of the court all game long.

Chris Bosh joined the team and was on the bench for the game. Prior to this contest, Bosh had only been seen at Miami's home games. Bosh's status for potential future rounds remains a question mark.

The Heat and Hornets will take the court next on Monday at 7:00 p.m.

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