MIAMI -- Only a week ago the Miami Heat could not score. A five-point quarter in the season finale at Boston was how they sputtered into the postseason, looking nothing like a contender.
It was an aberration.
Dwyane Wade scored 28 points, Hassan Whiteside was 8 for 8 from the field and finished with 17 points, and the Heat beat the Charlotte Hornets 115-103 on Wednesday night to take a 2-0 lead in the Eastern Conference first-round series.
Goran Dragic scored 18 points, Luol Deng finished with 16 and Josh Richardson added 15 for Miami, which had 72 points by halftime and never trailed in the second half. Whiteside added 13 rebounds and is now shooting 17 for 19 in his postseason series debut.
Kemba Walker scored 29 for Charlotte, needing 29 shots to get there. Al Jefferson had 25 on 12-for-17 shooting off the bench, Courtney Lee added 12 and Jeremy Lin had 11 for Charlotte -- which has dropped 12 consecutive postseason contests.
The Heat closed a record-setting first half with 10 consecutive made shots -- eight of them jumpers, four of them three-pointers -- to score 23 points in 3 1/2 minutes on the way to building a 72-60 lead by haltime.
Miami scored 43 in the quarter and its 72 points in the half matched or exceeded what Game 2 losers managed Tuesday night: Boston had 72 in Atlanta, Memphis managed only 68 in San Antonio.
Strange but true: The Hornets went 0 for 6 on the opening possession of the second half.
Marvin Williams missed a jumper to start the sequence, and then he and Cody Zeller went on a run of something resembling failed volleyball. Zeller missed a putback. Williams then got three offensive rebounds and missed three consecutive shots, and Zeller somehow missed another tip before the Heat finally corralled the rebound.
CHARLOTTE (103)
Batum 3-11 3-3 9, Williams 0-10 0-2 0, Zeller 3-6 2-3 8, Walker 12-29 4-4 29, Lee 5-7 2-3 12, Jefferson 12-17 1-2 25, Lin 2-7 7-8 11, Kaminsky 0-1 4-4 4, Hawes 1-1 3-4 5. Totals 38-89 26-33 103.
MIAMI (115)
J.Johnson 3-5 1-2 8, Deng 6-11 2-3 16, Whiteside 8-8 1-1 17, Dragic 6-12 3-4 18, Wade 11-22 6-7 28, Stoudemire 1-3 2-2 4, Richardson 5-9 3-3 15, Winslow 4-6 0-0 9, Green 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 44-76 18-22 115.
Charlotte 29 31 18 25 -- 103
Miami 29 43 19 24 -- 115
3-Point Goals--Charlotte 1-16 (Walker 1-6, Lee 0-1, Williams 0-2, Lin 0-3, Batum 0-4), Miami 9-16 (Dragic 3-3, Deng 2-5, Richardson 2-5, Winslow 1-1, J.Johnson 1-2). Fouled Out--None. Rebounds--Charlotte 54 (Jefferson, Batum 7), Miami 40 (Whiteside 13). Assists--Charlotte 9 (Batum, Walker 3), Miami 19 (Wade 8). Total Fouls--Charlotte 16, Miami 25. Attendance--19,650 (19,600).
CAVALIERS 107, PISTONS 90
CLEVELAND -- LeBron James scored 27 points, J.R. Smith made seven of Cleveland's NBA playoff record-tying 20 three-pointers, and the Cavaliers opened a 2-0 lead in their series with a victory over the Detroit Pistons.
The top-seeded Cavs put away the up-and-coming Pistons in the third quarter, outscoring them 27-15 to protect home-court advantage.
There was nothing easy about their first two victories and the Cavs, favored to win the Eastern Conference and return to the finals, will have their work cut out when the best-of-seven series resumes Friday night at Detroit.
Kyrie Irving added 22 points for Cleveland, which went 20 of 38 on threes and tied the postseason record shared by Golden State (2015), Dallas (2011) and Seattle (1996).
Andre Drummond scored 20 and Reggie Jackson 14 for the Pistons, who have lost 10 consecutive playoff games against Cleveland. Drummond was just 4 of 16 from the line.
DETROIT (90)
Harris 3-11 7-8 13, Morris 2-10 6-6 11, Drummond 8-13 4-16 20, Jackson 7-14 0-0 14, Caldwell-Pope 5-12 1-2 13, Johnson 4-7 0-0 9, Blake 0-2 0-0 0, Baynes 1-3 0-0 2, Bullock 2-3 0-0 4, Tolliver 0-1 0-0 0, Meeks 1-1 0-0 2, Dinwiddie 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 34-78 18-32 90.
CLEVELAND (107)
James 12-18 1-3 27, Love 5-14 3-6 16, Thompson 0-0 0-0 0, Irving 8-18 2-3 22, Smith 7-13 0-0 21, Mozgov 0-1 0-0 0, Shumpert 1-4 0-0 2, Jefferson 1-3 0-0 3, Frye 1-2 0-0 3, Dellavedova 3-5 1-2 8, McRae 2-2 0-0 5, D.Jones 0-0 0-0 0, J.Jones 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 40-80 7-14 107.
Detroit 28 25 15 22 -- 90
Cleveland 23 32 27 25 -- 107
3-Point Goals--Detroit 4-17 (Caldwell-Pope 2-6, Johnson 1-2, Morris 1-5, Harris 0-1, Tolliver 0-1, Blake 0-1, Bullock 0-1), Cleveland 20-38 (Smith 7-11, Irving 4-7, Love 3-7, James 2-4, McRae 1-1, Dellavedova 1-1, Frye 1-2, Jefferson 1-3, Shumpert 0-2). Fouled Out--None. Rebounds--Detroit 57 (Harris, Caldwell-Pope 8), Cleveland 48 (Love 10). Assists--Detroit 19 (Jackson 6), Cleveland 23 (Dellavedova 9). Total Fouls--Detroit 18, Cleveland 24. Technicals--Morris. Attendance--20,562 (20,562).
Sports on 04/21/2016