The Miami Heat had just scored 15 straight points to tie the game at 100, wiping out what had been a 23-point lead, and Charlotte Hornets forward Naz Reid was laughing. He said later that he was telling everybody the score was 0-0.
"The game is really just starting right now," Reid said he told them.
The Hornets outscored Miami 15-10 the rest of the way and won 115-110 on Saturday night at Spectrum Center, the second game in two nights and a day after the Atlanta Hawks beat them by 47 points on the same floor. Charlotte guard Brandon Miller, who scored six points against the Hawks, had 34. Two of his free throws broke the 100-100 tie, and his turnaround jumper broke the next one.
Charlotte led 96-73 with 9 seconds left in the third quarter. Miami cut it to 13 early in the fourth, and then, from 100-85, scored 15 points in a row in just over three minutes. Miami's Davion Mitchell scored or assisted on all six of those baskets, the last a reverse layup with 5:42 left.
Hornets coach Charles Lee said that when it got to 100-100, "one of our veterans stood up and said, hey, guys, it's 0-0 at this point. And it gave a calm and a confidence to the group." Reid said he was laughing because he had been in that spot enough times. "I've been here before," he said.
Miami tied it twice more. Mitchell's layup made it 102-102, and after Miller's 13-foot turnaround, a dunk by Miami's Bam Adebayo made it 104-104 with 3:45 left, 10 seconds after an offensive foul on Charlotte's Grayson Allen. With 3:19 left, Allen pulled up from 26 feet, made the 3-pointer while being fouled and added the free throw, a four-point play that put Charlotte ahead for good, 108-104.
Charlotte's Dennis Schröder made two free throws for a six-point lead. A 3 by Miami's Klay Thompson cut it to three, Miller answered with two free throws with 50 seconds left, and Adebayo was called for an offensive foul on Miami's next possession. Mitchell's 28-footer with 8 seconds left made it 113-110 before Allen sealed it from the line.
Miller, the second pick in the 2023 NBA draft, went 2 of 14 from the field on Friday. On Saturday he made 10 of 29 shots and 11 of his 12 free throws, scored 13 of his points in the third quarter and had eight rebounds. Charlotte was 20 points better than Miami with him on the floor, the best mark on either team.
"Obviously, yesterday wasn't our basketball game. It wasn't our night," Miller said. "It's easy to get discouraged, of course, with losses like that."
"That guy has a body of work that is just very impressive," Lee said. "He wants to be an elite two-way player, and he showcased it today."
Schröder scored 25 and made all six of his free throws. "He's just earned so much respect from our guys for how hard he plays," Lee said. Reid had 23 points, five 3-pointers and nine rebounds, and Lee said he guarded Miami's Giannis Antetokounmpo, "which is a tough cover." Allen scored 20 off the bench, 7 of them in the last 3 minutes 19 seconds.
Mitchell finished with 22 points and 10 assists, and Adebayo had 20 points and eight rebounds. Antetokounmpo scored 8 points in the first quarter and 6 the rest of the night, and fouled out. "We knew that we were going to need all five guys that were on the court to be watching him, to be shifting, to be active," Lee said.
Lee was asked Friday about boos from the home crowd. Saturday's attendance was 19,611. Lee said Friday was "one of those days when your family ain't acting right, you got to let them know." He went on: "And they did. And we used it as fuel today. And they gave us our flowers today, which is what family does."
Charlotte again played without guard Coby White and forward Kon Knueppel, along with Grant Williams and Kylan Boswell.
Miami is 0-3. The Hornets, 2-1, are home again Monday at 7 p.m. against the Washington Wizards.
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