http://www.nola.com/hornets/t-p/index.ssf?/base/sports-1/108279719383980.xml DREADFUL THIRD Lack of scoring in the third quarter has killed the Hornets vs. the Heat, but that didn't start in the playoffs Saturday, April 24, 2004 By Jimmy Smith Staff writer Look past the disappointment of a two-point opening-game loss and the disillusionment of a 30-point Game 2 blowout and focus all attention on the third quarters in each of the first-round playoff meetings against the Miami Heat. There is the primary reason, 25 of them actually, the Hornets find themselves in severe trouble heading into this afternoon's Game 3 at New Orleans Arena. In last Sunday night's first game in Miami, the Hornets scored 15 points in the third quarter, as the Heat erased a one-point New Orleans halftime edge and took a 66-59 lead heading into the fourth quarter. And, in Wednesday night's horrid performance, the Hornets scored 10 points as Miami stretched a nine-point halftime lead into an insurmountable 23-point bulge. Even before the third-quarter dry spells in the playoffs, the Hornets experienced more than a handful of tepid periods coming out of the half-time locker room. Twelve times over the course of the 82-game regular season, New Orleans failed to score at least 17 points in third quarters. And 30 times the Hornets scored fewer than 20 points. New Orleans' record in those games: 9-21. In the playoffs, it's 0-2. "I look back at the start of the third quarter in the last game," Hornets coach Tim Floyd said Friday, "and I think we had the seven best looks (at the basket) that we've had in this series. "And we did not get one of the shots down. They hit three of their first seven trips and, all of a sudden, you're looking at a significant double-digit lead. I loved the looks that we got. We didn't get them down. There's no real answer for that, other than making some of those shots. Guys are going to miss shots. You can't fight that end of it." In Game 1, it was something of a different story line. Forward P.J. Brown went to the bench with his fourth personal foul 42 seconds into the third quarter. Baron Davis picked up his fourth 2:01 later, and Jamaal Magloire got his third 1:08 after that. "That hurt us," Floyd said. "I think Baron played three minutes in the quarter, and P.J. played one minute. I think that contributed." That, and the fact that whatever halftime adjustments the Hornets' staff might have made have been neutralized by the Heat's aggressive, half-court offense. "I think they've come out and been more of the aggressor in the first two games," Davis said Friday after the Hornets' practice at the Alario Center. "We haven't opened up the third being the aggressor, making shots, pushing the tempo. "We kind of started out sluggish, trying to set up offense every time down the floor. We've got to find ways to score early in the quarter, make some stops and limit their fast break." Floyd concedes that more successful third quarters in either of the first two games of the series might today have the Hornets facing something other than a must-win dilemma. "It would have been a difference-maker in Game 1," he said. "I think the end of the second quarter, when Baron picked up his third foul (with 5.1 seconds remaining) contributed to that. "We recognize the importance of early starts, the way you finish the half and the way you start the third quarter and the way you finish the game. We've been better in some of the other areas than we have at the start of the third quarter." Which, the Hornets admit, is something that can't happen today. "I think they came out with more energy the last two games," Davis said. "They've come out with a lot of energy in the third quarter and pretty much just broke the game open. "We just have to put together a good stretch of every quarter. We have to play good, consistent basketball for 48 minutes. That's what the playoffs are all about, playing the best you can possibly play for 48 minutes." . . . . . . . Jimmy Smith can be reached at [email protected] or (504) 826-3814 Hornets point guard Baron Davis picked up his fourth foul early in the third quarter of Game 1 against Miami, and that contributed to the team's scoring just 15 points in the quarter. [989958] --

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