http://www.nola.com/hornets/t-p/index.ssf?/base/sports-1/1083662867260510.xml John DeShazier Tuesday, May 04, 2004 John DeShazier The talk is again about experience, how the Hornets possess a wealth of it and the Heat can fit theirs in a thimble, and how that kind of intangible works for a team in the playoffs -- especially in a Game 7. Tonight in Miami, the Heat and Hornets will play the tiebreaker in this 3-3 series, and in the contests so far this is the edge all that experience has given New Orleans: None. So if there's an advantage to being older and wiser, tonight at AmericanAirlines Arena would be a good place for it to show up. "If anything is going to be decided, it's going to be decided in Game 7," Hornets guard Baron Davis said. "We know we have a good opportunity going in there. We have the utmost confidence." Opportunity and confidence are good. A victory would be even better, and a win tonight would be historic for the Hornets, a franchise that has been involved in only one Game 7, a loss in 2001 in the Eastern Conference semifinals to the Milwaukee Bucks. Away from New Orleans Arena, where experience and poise desperately have been needed in this series, the veteran Hornets haven't lived up to their alleged strengths. In the clutch -- in Games 1 and 5 -- they twice played like they left their cool in the locker room. For the most part, it wasn't until Sunday, an 89-83 victory that resembled a wrestling match complete with the potty mouths and hip tosses, that the Hornets emerged as elders, forward P.J. Brown said. "I think with all that talk, (Sunday) it really stood up big-time," he said of the experience factor. "Those guys (Miami) hadn't been in an elimination game. I don't care if you're up 3-1 or 3-0, when you're trying to close out a team and end a team's season, that's the hardest game." How difficult it will be this time remains to be seen, but it's guaranteed that one team will be vacation-bound Wednesday morning. The other survives, which is all a team wants in the playoffs. Maybe it'll be the Hornets, who climbed from an 0-2 hole to win three of the past four in the series. New Orleans can win four of five games for the first time since December and can end Miami's 15-game home winning streak. Or maybe it'll be the Heat, who won the first two games of the series and already have had something of a miracle season, having lost their first seven games and at one point languishing at 11 games under .500. But there's no doubt which of the teams will benefit more from winning the do-or-die game, despite its insistence that the pressure is on the opponent. The only good way the night can end for New Orleans is to win and advance to the Eastern Conference semifinals to play Indiana. Because another first-round exit in a season that has been talked up -- based on the premise that the team was so good anything less than the conference finals wouldn't do -- isn't acceptable unless the bar gradually, and quietly, has been lowered. But before there can be any concern over the Pacers, there still is the matter of dealing with the Heat, something the Hornets only have proven they can do in their own city limits. No matter that Miami also only has won home games, because the Heat didn't come into this series needing a win on the road. These seven games, from start to finish, have been about the Hornets and how they cope and deal, how they navigate past an opponent that climbed the playoff ladder because New Orleans and several others slid down it. Now the Hornets are in a position where they must take what they previously have failed to steal, even though Miami twice has left the windows open and the doors unlocked. Again, the Hornets believe they're inside Miami's head. "I think we are, especially after Game 6," Davis said. Getting inside their heads hasn't been the problem. Getting out of their arena with a victory has. And it will be an issue that stretches into next season if the Hornets' playoff experience again fails to play the pivotal role in the biggest road game of the year. . . . . . . . John DeShazier can be reached at [email protected] or (504) 826-3410. --

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