Hornets stave off playoff elimination
By By Richard Dark / EMG staff writer
May 3, 2004
NEW ORLEANS It ain't over til it's over.
Yogi Berra was talking about baseball, but he could just as easily use his catch phrase to refer to the New Orleans Hornets-Miami Heat Eastern Conference first-round series, one that toughens dramatically as it slowly progresses. And there's one more episode left down to a Game 7 to finally settle the score.
The Hornets made certain of that by punishing the youthful Heat en route to a 19-point second-half lead and then holding on through the inevitable furious Heat fourth-quarter comeback to grind out an 89-83 Game 6 win in front of a lathered up sellout crowd of 17,297 in New Orleans Arena Sunday afternoon.
But it was that other six minutes that had the outcome in question. Despite the Hornets' best efforts to put them away, Miami kept coming behind Dwyane Wade's 27 points and 23 from Eddie Jones, despite being knocked to the floor and thrown around in a brutally physical contest that saw four of the five technical fouls whistled on the Hornets, the latter resulting in Robert Traylor getting ejected.
He heated up in the fourth quarter to finish with 10 points. But it was the forward spot that again decided the issue, as P.J. Brown and George Lynch each scored 16 to lead New Orleans, and at the same time, held Lamar Odom and Brian Grant to a combined 15.
Baron Davis also set the tone in the first half by distributing the ball effectively to the hot hands. He finished with 15 points, 12 assists and five rebounds. Jamaal Magloire tallied 14 points and nine boards.
Stacey Augmon finished off a steal and subsequent Hornet run out with an emphatic fast break dunk that pushed the lead to 80-62 with 8:10 to go. But Heat forward Caron Butler pumped in 7 of his 14 down the stretch to pull the Heat to within 87-83 inside the final minute, before Wesley sank four straight free throws to ice it. The Hornets keys to success improved, as they were only narrowly outscored 12-11 in fast break points and 34-32 in paint points. They won second chances 18-14.
But in order for New Orleans to advance to the Conference semis against a well-rested Indiana club, they will have to close out the game strong, something they have yet to do in this series, despite being the more experienced squad.
