http://www.nola.com/hornets/t-p/index.ssf?/base/sports-1/1082885651107450.xml Davis aches, but pains Heat in Hornets victory Guard hurts Miami's hopes of sweep Sunday, April 25, 2004 By Jimmy Smith Staff writer David Wesley isn't fooled by the wincing or the grimacing. "I think," Wesley said of Hornets backcourt mate Baron Davis, "he's a hypochondriac." Playing as though he were either a walking billboard for Blue Cross or the poster child for the latest "Terminator" sequel, the Miami Heat discovered that each time Davis hit the floor Saturday afternoon at New Orleans Arena he probably was muttering as Arnold Schwarzenegger would, "I'll be back." During Saturday's 77-71 Hornets victory, Davis first aggravated a left ankle sprain that has dogged him for much of this season. Second, he appeared to reinjure his left knee, the one on which he's been wearing a blue, neoprene sleeve all year, the same knee that was repaired by arthroscopic surgery last season. Finally, Davis tweaked his right elbow when it got in the way of Lamar Odom's left eye, resulting in soreness for Davis and six stitches to close Odom's gash. Somewhere in-between, Davis scored 21 points to lead the Hornets to a Game 3 victory in the Eastern Conference playoffs, erasing any thoughts the upstart Heat might have had of a four-game sweep and perhaps taking away some of Miami's swagger. "There seems to be something wrong with him every timeout," Wesley said, smiling. "I don't even want to talk about it. I am glad he stayed in the game. I'm not buying into it every time he does something. It's not like, 'Oh my gosh!' "I expect him to come back about 90 percent of the time. There's always one time he's lying down there for a while. Other than that, it's like, 'Get up, man. Let's go.' " Twice Davis returned to the Hornets' locker room to have his ankle retaped then went back into the game, this on an afternoon when at the outset he was splitting defenders and driving hard toward the basket, a signature move that had been absent for several months. It was the energy and drive upon which the Hornets fed Saturday, despite another ugly offensive effort made more attractive by a defensive intensity that had been missing in Games 1 and 2. The Hornets held Miami to a franchise playoff opponent-low 71 points, and limited the Heat to 33 percent shooting and 25 field goals, all record performances, this on the heels of a 93-point Miami outburst three days earlier. "This is what we've talked about: winning ugly," said Hornets forward P.J. Brown. "A lot of times, it's going to be that way. If our defense stays the way it did tonight, and our offense can shoot 40 percent, 42, 45 percent, it's going to be hard for that team to beat us." New Orleans held the Heat to 29 first-half points, then withstood a fourth-quarter surge in which Miami whittled a nine-point deficit down to two with 1:47 to go. "We showed a lot of heart by fighting," said Odom, who returned after getting the cut over his left eye closed. "Everybody was trying to come in here and get one. We're still up 2 to 1. They played a great game and got their win, but we were right in there to win it. We did everything we needed to do and it was still a two-possession game." Until Jamaal Magloire swatted a Caron Butler shot in the lane with 1:34 to go that preserved what was then a four-point New Orleans lead, 75-71, giving Davis an opportunity to retire to the training room, an all-too-familiar spot. "All I know," Davis said afterward, "is when the season is over, I'm just going to lay in my bed for about three weeks." . . . . . . . Jimmy Smith can be reached at [email protected] or (504) 826-3814. --

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