Community Picks: Charlotte Hornets 0% vs Miami Heat 0%

The Miami Heat and Charlotte Hornets have streaked to a series-deciding Game 7, set to tip at 1 ET on Sunday afternoon. Both teams have second-round merits, but as is always the case with these sorts of close calls, the slightest edge could make the difference in sending one team home for the summer. We summarized three edge-creating options in the hours before Game 7: 1. Free throw attempts The Hornets average 28 freebie attempts per game, which is certainly not an outsized amount and not all that more than Miami’s run of 21.3 a game. The Heat, though, are chaffing at the fact that reserve Charlotte guard Jeremy Lin has taken 38 in the series and that Kemba Walker (at 33 through six games) isn’t far behind. Dwyane Wade, the man who once shot 22 free throws in a pivotal NBA Finals game, has taken just as many in the playoffs thus far. [ Follow Dunks Don't Lie on Tumblr: The best slams from all of basketball ] Miami coach Erik Spoelstra and Hornet head man Steve Clifford both come from the Pat Riley family tree, which means they’ve done all they can within un-fineable reason to attempt to sway things both through the media and off the record. This hardly matters in the moment, though, when someone like Goran Dragic either collides into Cody Zeller, or on the other end Dragic sees himself pushing the bounds of verticality in the face of Lin’s driving man bun. Referees Ed Malloy, Bill Kennedy, and Mike Callahan worked in the Kennedy Administration are a top-notch and veteran crew who will not be swayed by Miami’s home setting. That, in turn, does not guarantee anything for the Hornets, who will have to keep the pressure on Miami’s aging backcourt of Dragic and Wade. Continue to Article

May 01, 2016 11:08:am EST

(The Sports Xchange) - When the Miami Heat needed someone to step up at crunch time Friday, Dwyane Wade delivered. As a result, the Heat have forced a deciding Game 7 in their first-round Eastern Conference playoff series against the Charlotte Hornets. Wade scored 23 points and hit two crucial baskets in the final minute as the Heat held off the Hornets 97-90 to even the series 3-3. Continue to Article

April 30, 2016 1:01:am EST

(Adds detail, quotes) April 29 (The Sports Xchange) - When the Miami Heat needed someone to step up at crunch time Friday, Dwyane Wade delivered. As a result, the Heat have forced a deciding Game 7 in their first-round Eastern Conference playoff series against the Charlotte Hornets. Wade scored 23 points and hit two crucial baskets in the final minute as the Heat held off the Hornets 97-90 to even the series 3-3. Continue to Article

April 30, 2016 12:59:am EST

Dwyane Wade hadn't made a 3-point shot since December, enduring a streak of 22 consecutive misses. The 34-year-old star hit both 3-pointers he attempted, including a big one with 46 seconds left, finishing with 23 points as the Heat beat the Charlotte Hornets 97-90 to force a decisive game in the first-round series. ''Once I saw one fall, anybody who is scorer knows the basket gets a little bigger,'' Wade said. Continue to Article

April 29, 2016 11:47:pm EST

The Golden State Warriors shrugged off the injury absence of Stephen Curry to crush the Houston Rockets 114-81 and book their place in the next round of the Western Conference playoffs. The Warriors season has been plunged into uncertainty after Curry suffered a sprained medial collateral ligament during Game Four against Houston on Sunday. The Warriors will now play either the Portland Trail Blazers or the injury-ravaged Los Angeles Clippers in the next round, with the opening game in the best-of-seven series set for Sunday. Continue to Article

April 28, 2016 2:20:am EST