Fourth quarter dooms Heat - Miami shot 19.2 percent from the field in the fourth quarter as the Hornets sent the Heat to its fourth loss in its past five games
OKLAHOMA CITY -- At the start of the fourth quarter,
when it was Wayne Simien's turn to attempt to score timely
buckets to break a Heat drought, the frustration started
to show on Dwyane Wade.
The pattern of fourth-quarter offensive slumps was continuing,
and Wade could do nothing to avoid it.
As a result, a close game entering the final period became
a 101-86 loss to the Hornets at the Ford Center, the Heat's
fourth loss in five games.
"It still was a game going into the fourth [quarter],
and they started making shots and we started missing shots,"
Heat coach Pat Riley said. "We get very discouraged
when that happens."
The Heat avoided those feelings of dejection early on,
despite getting off to a poor shooting start. The Hornets
used an early 9-0 run to take a 15-6 lead midway through
the first quarter. It could have been much worse had the
Hornets, who shot 26.9 percent from the field in the first
quarter, not missed a handful of point-blank shots.
Antoine Walker continued his woes from the field to contribute
to the Heat's 36 percent shooting in the first quarter.
With James Posey out with an injured left calf, that
meant Dorell Wright was first off the bench in place of
Walker, and the third-year forward helped the Heat recover
with eight points on 4-of-4 shooting in the first half
with six rebounds. Wright's last field goal of the first
half gave the Heat its first lead, 46-45, with a minute
remaining in the half.
Wade managed to slice through enough of the Hornets defenders
in the first half to keep the Heat close, scoring 19 points,
including 11 of 11 from the foul line.
NEW STRATEGY
But in the second half, the Hornets defensive attention
on Wade seemed to intensify, and it meant Wade needed
more help if the Heat had a chance to pull out a win.
None came, and the Heat shot a paltry 19.2 percent from
the floor in the fourth quarter, while the Hornets shot
62.5 percent to pull away late. Midway through the fourth
quarter, Alonzo Mourning and Hornets center Marc Jackson
were given double technical fouls and ejected for nearly
coming to blows.
Wade finished with 29 points, making 8 of 15 shots, with
six assists. Jason Williams contributed 13 points, including
three of the Heat's four three-pointers in the game, and
Wright added 10.
No other Heat player scored in double figures. Walker
finished 2 of 8 from the field, making him 5 of 29 (17.2
percent) over the past three games.
Riley said Walker simply must perform better if the Heat
is going to take advantage of opposing team's defensive
strategy against Wade.
"Antoine's got to play," Riley said. "Come
on, he's got to play. He's got to be productive. He's
got to be able to play off of people, he's got to be able
to play with the ball. He's got to play at a higher level.
We need him now, so I can't express it any other way.
"It's obvious we need another scorer, and he can
do that. We're running post-up plays for him, but he's
got to step up and help us probably as much as anybody.
He's got to get involved a little bit more."
Walker knows that he is the second offensive option with
Shaquille O'Neal out, and he would like to get more involved.
But Walker said he will need the ball more to do so.
'IN DUE TIME'
"Tonight may be the norm over the next few weeks
in the way they're going to play guys with Shaq out,"
Walker said. "So we have to have some other guys
step up and make plays. It'll come in due time.
"I didn't have the ball in my hands a lot to make
a lot of plays. For me to be effective and for me to make
plays, I have to have the ball in my hands a number of
times."
Wade has played without O'Neal before, but it has never
been this consistently bad. Wade maintains, however, that
the way to avoid these slumps is relatively simple.
"Make shots," Wade said.
