http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sports/basketball/heat/ sfl-heatlede27apr27,0,3740484.story?coll=sfla-sports-heat Heat learns the drill: Go elbow-to-elbow with Hornets By Harvey Fialkov Staff Writer Posted April 27 2004 MIAMI -- When most were whooping it up watching the Raptors beat the Bucks on TV in the Heat locker room to sew up the fourth playoff seed for Miami on the final day of the season, Rafer Alston had, literally, a different view. Alston, known as Skip, was indeed skipping in and out of the locker room, to the showers, training room and back, peeking at different TVs, too nervous to sit still. While Alston preferred the home advantage, he was far more wary of a veteran-laden Hornets squad vs. an inexperienced group of young Bucks. Alston was a spare part on the Bucks in the 2001 playoffs when the Hornets stormed back from an 0-2 hole to win three games before succumbing in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference semifinals. After a collective slap from the desperate Hornets in Saturday's 77-71 Game 3 loss in New Orleans to cut the Heat's best-of-seven series lead to 2-1, Alston's concerns may prove prescient as Game 4 approaches tonight in the not-so Big Easy. "We've been able to do whatever we wanted the first two games, so it gives you a little concern now that you realize it's a playoff series now," Alston said. "I expected them to get physical. They get away with a lot of veteran moves. Veteran cheap plays, grab and hold, the elbows and everything. They know how to do it and when to do it. They've been down that road." The Hornets' starting five of David Wesley, Baron Davis, P.J. Brown, Jamaal Magloire and George Lynch have played in a combined 227 playoff games, compared to Brian Grant's and Eddie Jones' 92. The Heat's three other starters -- rookie guard Dwyane Wade, former Clippers forward Lamar Odom and second-year small forward Caron Butler -- are getting their first bloody tastes of the reality of playoff basketball. Wade was clearly targeted. He was knocked down so many times that it wouldn't have been surprising to see referee Bennett Salvatore issue him a standing eight-count. Davis and Wesley constantly trapped Wade in the corners, forcing him into most of his six turnovers. He stopped attacking the rim and settled for long jumpers, not his forte. "I think it was more of me not being really prepared for what they were going to throw out," said Wade, who averaged 17.5 points in the first two games before Saturday's two-point clunker (1 of 8). "Like Coach said, I knew they were an aggressive team, but once they don't do it for two games, then you get into a flow. Then they come out and bam! It wasn't in my mentality to come out and do that, so I didn't attack." Butler, who learned toughness early in Racine, Wis., seemed to thrive in the midst of flying elbows and teeth-rattling fouls around the basket. "I think they went out there ready to hit everybody," said Butler, who had 24 points and 15 rebounds, the first Heat player to ever post a 20-15 playoff line. "It's a war out there. So don't come in here with your hands down. Come in swinging." Wade has vowed to come out with more aggression. "We'll match their intensity on the floor," Wade said. "I want to be more aggressive going to the basket and looking at the rim for the simple fact I'll give my teammates better shots by doing my strength, getting to the paint and basket." Wade's teammates expect him to bounce off the canvas just as he had all injury-plagued season. "[Physical pounding] was unexpected. Now he knows," Alston said. "That kid's from Chicago. I don't think somebody pushing him around is going to affect him. I don't think any human being is tougher than what he had the challenge of growing up in the game of life. He'll be prepared for Game 4." Odom was fortunate to have had a cut man in his corner on Saturday, as Dr. Harlan Selesnick used six stitches to close a gash near his left eye after an inadvertent elbow from Davis early in the fourth quarter. "We played in [narrow] courts ... with cages around them. It was part of our environment," Odom said of his New York City playground days. "We know what to expect. You take a little and you give a little. I took mine, so now. ... " The Heat needs to return to its running game, but in the words of boxing legend Joe Louis, you can run, but you can't hide. All that may be missing from tonight's tip-off is ringmaster Michael Buffer bellowing his "Let's get ready to rumble!" Copyright c 2004, South Florida Sun-Sentinel --

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