http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/sports/basketball/8514385.htm Posted on Sun, Apr. 25, 2004 GAME 3 | HORNETS 77, HEAT 71 Heat battered: 'They shocked us' In a bar fight of a playoff game, Lamar Odom gets a bloody eye and the Heat gets its ego bruised as Miami shoots 32.9 percent in a Game 3 loss on the road. BY ISRAEL GUTIERREZ [email protected] NEW ORLEANS - All the warnings, all the talk, all the regular-season experiences and all the film in the world couldn't prepare the Heat for this: Lamar Odom with a swollen and stitched left eye, Dwyane Wade defused and sitting when the game mattered most, Eddie Jones with a bruised ego, and a one-legged Baron Davis still carrying his team. The Heat knew the New Orleans Hornets would try to win Saturday's Game 3 in bar-fight fashion. But Saturday's game ended up being even more than expected. "It was that and then some," said Caron Butler, who tried to lift the Heat single-handedly by scoring 24 points and grabbing 15 rebounds. "They shocked us." The Hornets stunned the Heat with an energetic defensive effort in the first half, built an early double-digit lead, then hung on to win 77-71, taking their first game in the best-of-7 series. The Heat shot just 32.9 percent from the floor (the worst-shooting playoff game in team history), with the starting backcourt of Jones and Wade shooting a combined 3 of 21 and scoring seven points. Davis, who has aggravated his left ankle injury in each game of the series, scored 21 points, had four steals and held Wade to arguably his worst game of the season. The rookie scored two points and played just 31 minutes -- only 12 in the second half. Davis, however, established his presence early, shutting down Wade and scoring five points in New Orleans' 15-5 run to open the game. The Heat missed 13 of its first 15 shots and was unable to recover. "I thought our mind-set to start the game was a major problem," Heat coach Stan Van Gundy said. "We tried to prepare them for three days on how hard somebody would come at you at home down 2-0, but we seemed very surprised by the fact that they were up and into us and very physical." By pushing the Heat around, the Hornets managed to dictate the tempo. The Heat had outscored the Hornets 36-10 in transition through the first two games of the series, easily outrunning an older New Orleans team. But the Heat scored only eight fast-break points Saturday, forcing the team to rely on its sometimes unreliable halfcourt set. "I think we were being cautious with the ball; we didn't want to turn the ball over," said Rafer Alston, who scored 10 points in 29 minutes. "It just so happens on the road, I don't know why we play like that. I definitely don't have an answer for why. "Even when we don't have an advantage at home, we take it. I don't know why we come on the road and suddenly stop." Late in the third quarter, though, the Heat figured out how to play at the Hornets' pace. A Butler jump shot with 1.1 seconds left in the third quarter narrowed the Hornets lead to 55-50 -- the closest the Heat had been to that point in the second half. At the start of the fourth, a determined Odom scored the Heat's first six points of the period and closed the gap to 61-57 with 8:23 left in the game. But with 7:04 left in the game, a Davis elbow caught Odom on his left eyelid, forcing him to the locker room to receive six stitches. With Odom out for the next 5:17, Wade on the bench because of his ineffectiveness and Jones hitting the front rim on almost every shot attempt, Butler was called to carry the team out of its deficit. He scored 10 of his 11 fourth-quarter points after Odom left the game. Twice Butler got the Heat within two, the last time with two free throws that made the score 73-71 with 1:47 remaining. When the Heat finally got a chance to tie it, Butler missed a 19-foot jump shot over Stacey Augmon. On the ensuing Hornets possession, Augmon missed a reverse layup, but Jamaal Magloire sneaked in behind Brian Grant for the offensive rebound and was fouled. His two free throws extended the New Orleans lead to 75-71 with 55 seconds left, and the Heat couldn't score again. "As I saw Augmon running [to the rim], I tried to recover back to him," Grant said of the critical play. "When the shot went up, I got caught looking at the ball, and [Magloire] came in and got the rebound. There were several plays that could have helped us win, but that late in the game, there is no way I'm supposed to let him get that offensive rebound." Grant was beating himself up about the momentary lapse but remained encouraged about the Heat's chances to win Game 4 on Tuesday. As a whole, the Heat came out of Saturday's bar fight battered, but not beaten. "We move on," Wade said. "We've got another game, we're still up 2-1, and we're still very confident." --

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