The Miami Heat will play into May. Whether it’s for more than one day will be decided in today’s Game 7 against the Charlotte Hornets at AmericanAirlines Arena.
Why? Because Dwyane Wade decided so. Pushing the best-of-seven opening-round NBA playoff series to its limit, the Heat pushed past the Hornets, 97-90, Friday night at Time Warner Cable Arena after losing the previous three games in the series.
And so two teams that finished with identical 48-34 regular-season records and then split their regular-season series 2-2, now also have split the first six games of this series.
After the Hornets made their road breakthrough with their Game 5 victory, the Heat responded with arguably their best road effort since just after the All-Star break.
Ultimately, it came down to Wade outduelling Hornets guard Kemba Walker down the stretch.
Wade led the Heat with 23 points, supported by 21 from Luol Deng, 14 from Goran Dragic and 12 from Hassan Whiteside, who closed with 12 points, fouling out midway through the fourth quarter.
Walker, who had a key late shock blocked by Wade, finished with 37 points, supported by 18 from Al Jefferson and 12 from Cody Zeller.
Whiteside was forced to the bench with foul trouble with 6:59 to play, after being called for his fifth foul, with the Heat up 83-76.
The Heat then extended their lead to nine, but that’s when Walker responded with a driving layup and, following a Heat turnover, a 3-pointer to draw Charlotte within 85-81 with 4:21 to play.
Whiteside then returned, retrieved a Josh Richardson miss and scored inside to push the Heat to an 87-81 lead.
That’s when Wade, facing an expiring shot clock, stepped up with his first 3-point conversion since December for a 90-81 lead.
The Hornets then got a free throw from Walker, retained possession, and got a Walker 3-pointer to pull within 90-86. The foul on Walker forced Whiteside out with his sixth foul.
A Dragic missed on one end and a Walker layup on the other drew Charlotte within 90-88 with 1:40 left.
The Heat then called time with 1:33 to play, still up two, with Wade probing until the Heat were called for a 24-second violation after a 3-point airball from Deng.
The Heat held on the other end, with Walker missing a 17-foot jumper.
Wade then again probed the defence through most of the shot clock before yet another 3-pointer, one that put the Heat up 93-88 with 46 seconds left.
Walker then executed for an assist for a Jefferson layup with 39.3 seconds to play, drawing Charlotte within 93-90, only to have Wade drain a jumper on the other end.
The Heat went into the fourth quarter up 75-70. That left Charlotte trying to win for the second time in the series, and second consecutive time, after trailing entering the fourth quarter behind, as they did in Game 5.
The game took a turn for the worse for the Heat with 3:43 to play in the third, when Whiteside was forced out with his fourth foul as the Hornets trimmed what had been a 13-point deficit to three. That had Heat coach Erik Spoelstra going with Udonis Haslem ahead of McRoberts.
The Hornets then continue to work through Jefferson, showing the varied facets of their offense, with Jefferson with 10 in the third period.
The Heat took a 59-50 lead into halftime, after Deng earlier had given them a 13-point lead on a corner 3-pointer.
Deng had 16 at the intermission, with Wade with 13 to that point.
The Heat stood at 60 percent from the field at halftime, 4 of 5 on 3-pointers to that stage, with a 23-11 rebounding edge, limited only by seven first-half turnovers that Charlotte maximized into 14 points.
There were 12 lead changes and 11 tie in the first half.
Walker had 15 first-half points for Charlotte, with Zeller with 12, already matching his career playoff high by halftime, in only his second career double-digit game.
With Whiteside already with two fouls, Dragic was forced out of the game just 62 seconds into the second quarter for his second foul, while scrambling on the court for a defensive rebound. That had Spoelstra rushing Wade back into the game after minimal rest.
The result of the Heat’s foul issues put the Hornets in the bonus with 6:47 left in the second period, after a rebounding foul by Winslow.
The Heat were 10 deep by late in the second period, with Udonis Haslem entering to defend Al Jefferson and keep Whiteside from picking up a third foul before the end of the half.
The Heat ended the second period with Whiteside, Joe Johnson, Dragic, Josh Richardson and Winslow with two fouls.
The Heat took a 27-24 lead into the second period behind 11 first-quarter points from Deng.
The Heat, though, also had to sit Whiteside late in that first period, when he picked up his second foul with 2:24 left in the quarter.
Spoelstra again went with Josh McRoberts as his first big man off the bench, sending him in when Whiteside was forced to the bench.
But Spoelstra did alter his rotation amid the Heat’s early scoring struggles, utilizing Green as his first wing off the bench, ahead of Winslow, who entered late in the opening period.
The Hornets jumped to an early 18-11 lead behind the play of Walker, who scored nine first-quarter points, before the Heat pushed back in front. The Heat had five first-quarter turnovers and at one point early on were being outscored 10-0 by Charlotte on points off turnovers.