MIAMI: Luol Deng scored 26 points, Chris Bosh and Mario Chalmers each added 20 and the Miami Heat held on in the final seconds to beat the Charlotte Hornets 94-93 on Sunday night and snap a three-game home slide.
Kemba Walker missed two potential go-ahead shots in the final half-minute for the Hornets, and Al Jefferson’s tip-in try bounced off the rim as time expired as Charlotte dropped its fifth straight game.
Chalmers had 10 assists for his second double-double of the season and Shabazz Napier scored 14 for the Heat.
Jefferson finished with 22 points and 12 rebounds for Charlotte, which got 17 points from Lance Stephenson and 16 from Walker. The Hornets led by as many as eight in the fourth, before Miami rallied.
Miami was without guard Dwyane Wade for the sixth straight game as he continues to work his way back from a strained left hamstring.
Working from the right side of the lane, Bosh spun free from Cody Zeller and scored to give Miami a 94-93 lead with 31 seconds remaining.
That’s when the fun really started.
Walker missed with 26 seconds left and Charlotte down by one. The Heat got the rebound and the Hornets appeared to be trying to foul Chalmers near midcourt.
No foul was called, the ball got knocked away and after a deflection out of bounds the Hornets had possession with 13 seconds remaining. Walker went at Napier — Connecticut great vs Connecticut great — and missed, Jefferson got a good try at the tip, and the ball fell harmlessly away as the horn sounded.
Down nine at half-time, Charlotte made that deficit go away in a hurry.
An 11-2 run to open the
third quarter, with Jefferson scoring five of those, pulled the Hornets into a 55-all tie — and Miami’s offense continued to sputter.
The Heat scored only 14 points in the third, Charlotte ended the quarter with a 6-0 burst and the Hornets went into the fourth up 72-67.
Charlotte’s lead was eight midway through the fourth, and the Heat were mired in a stretch where they had two field goals in more than 9 minutes. But Miami put together a flurry, setting up the back-and-forth dance to the wire.
Bosh hit a three-pointer, Napier had a pair of free throws after a steal and then — off a drive-and-dish by Chalmers — Napier added a three-pointer to cap an eight-point, 43-second burst and give Miami an 87-86 lead.
There were four more lead changes from there. AGENCIES
