Miami

Heat Win Important Game in Charlotte

The Heat picked up a crucial 112-99 victory over the Hornets on Wednesday in Charlotte

The Miami Heat picked up a big 112-99 win over the Charlotte Hornets on Wednesday at Time Warner Cable Arena.

The win moves Miami back into the eighth spot in the Eastern Conference. The Heat also now own a tiebreaker between the Indiana Pacers and Hornets, if the season ends in a three-way tie.

Miami only led by one at the half, but used a strong third quarter to grab the win. The Heat outscored the Hornets by 12 in the third quarter alone, and held off attempted rallies in the final 12 minutes. Charlotte entered the game in a mix for a playoff spot, but may not be able to recover from this loss.

The Heat drained 21 of the 40 three-pointers they tried in the game and had contributions of assortment of players. The 21 treys were a season-high for Miami.

Goran Dragic was Miami's leader in points with 33. It was one of Dragic's best games of the entire season and he did a lot of the damage with three-pointers. Dragic was 5-8 on treys and also had four assists in the win. The veteran helped out defensively as well with a pair of steals.

Even though he started the game out slowly in terms of points, Hassan Whiteside ended up with 13 points himself. The center also had 20 rebounds and three blocks. Whiteside was hit with a technical foul during the game and went on a strong run following that call. The technical occurred after Whiteside exchanged some words with Charlotte's Cody Zeller.

James Johnson had a big night as well with 26 points and four rebounds. Johnson was 6-7 on his three-point tries.

The Heat will play the first half of a back-to-back on Friday in Toronto against the Raptors at 7:30 p.m.

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