NBA Playoff preview and live streaming: Charlotte Hornets vs Miami Heat

By Jude Abastar, Christian Post Contributor Tuesday, April 26, 2016

The Miami Heat entered the first round of the NBA playoffs with a home court advantage and a lot of uncertainties. Power forward Chris Bosh isn't anywhere near playing with the blood clot issue still hounding him, while Dwyane Wade is no longer the dominant and high-flying guard he once was. So how are they going to match up with the surging Charlotte Hornets in this series?

Well, if Game 1 is another indication, Steve Clifford's Hornets are in for a tough pairing; something that they could not have anticipated. After stellar performances from veteran Luol Deng and center Hassan Whiteside, the Heat trounced the Hornets, 123-91 to start things off in Game 1. Miami followed it up with another drubbing, 115-103 in Game 2. Charlotte bounced back with a 96-80 victory in a must-win situation back at their home floor. But will Kemba Walker and the rest of the Hornets be able to pull off another one in Game 4?

The key to winning this series has always been defense, at least for the Hornets. They ended the regular season as the ninth best team in defensive rating, so Clifford should have been so mad when they allowed the Heat to shot over 57% in the first two games. If they want to win this first-round matchup, their defense has to show from here on out.

For Miami on the other hand, there really is no shortage of clutch players, with Wade, Joe Johnson, Deng, and even Goran Dragic sharing the load when it comes to taking big shots in end games. Eric Spoelstra's team just needs to be a little bit more consistent on the offensive and defensive ends since there are times when they fall in love with their outside shots, even though they're not really falling. In games where they push tempo and force the ball inside through drives and posts, they have a better winning percentage.

In the most literal sense, this series will go down to be a battle of defense versus offense. While Bosh is out for Miami, forward Nicolas Batum of the Hornets is also nursing an injury, so the absence of both players isn't really going to determine which team will reach the next round.

Game 4 Details