Heat’s D’Angelo Russell misses golden opportunity as they fall behind in overtime loss to Hornets
The seven-game winning streak reset the Miami Heat’s season. The two-game skid that now has followed has robbed some of that hope. Playing in the injury absences of Bam Adebayo and Andrew Wiggins, the Heat took a jolt in their playoff chase with Tuesday night’s 136-106 loss to the Charlotte Hornets at Spectrum Center.
With Adebayo ruled out 90 minutes due to calf discomfort and Wiggins missing ...
The seven-game winning streak reset the Miami Heat’s season. The two-game skid that now has followed has robbed some of that hope. Playing in the injury absences of Bam Adebayo and Andrew Wiggins, the Heat took a jolt in their playoff chase with Tuesday night’s 136-106 loss to the Charlotte Hornets at Spectrum Center.
With Adebayo ruled out 90 minutes due to calf discomfort and Wiggins missing his sixth consecutive game with a toe issue, not even a startling lineup reunion of Tyler Herro and Norman Powell was enough to prevent a step back in play-in territory for Erik Spoelstra’s team. A close first half turned into a double-digit lead for Charlotte late in the third period, leaving the Heat in jeopardy of falling in the play-in race rather than rising into the playoff race for one of the six automatic berths in the postseason best-of-seven opening round. Herro led the Heat with 20 points and Powell added 17, but it wasn’t enough to offset the 30 of Charlotte’s LaMelo Ball.
Five Degrees of Heat from Tuesday night’s game: 1. Game flow: The Hornets led 26-24 at the end of the opening period and 59-57 at halftime. There were 18 lead changes in the second quarter.