http://www.palmbeachpost.com/sports/content/auto/epaper/ editions/monday/sports_04c8380b96ea50f5007f.html Game 4 Heat's chance to show it's quick study By Greg Stoda, Palm Beach Post Staff Writer Monday, April 26, 2004 MIAMI-- The proof of learning lies more in practical application than simple comprehension. So it is for the Heat, who can yap about the lesson taught it Saturday afternoon in New Orleans until jazz leaves the bayou and it won't mean a thing if Miami ain't got that swing. Which suggests Tuesday night's Game 4 of the NBA Eastern Conference, first-round playoff series between the Heat and Hornets in New Orleans ought to serve as a very real test for Miami. The ridiculous aspect of the dynamic is that the Heat professed to have been surprised by the Hornets' determination in Game 3 even though New Orleans was returning home after having lost the first two games of the series. What did Miami expect? A spread of chicory and beignets? In convenient review of what turned out to be a 77-71 loss, the Heat regarded the entire exercise as something of a study hall. A study hall, that is, the Heat slept through except for, oh, all but approximately the last half of the last quarter. Which might be why first-year Heat coach Stan Van Gundy had his movie men splice together film clips of the debacle for purpose of Sunday midday instruction back in AmericanAirlines Arena. It couldn't have been pleasant entertainment for the Heat, and especially not for rookie point guard Dwyane Wade. "Pretty much the whole game," Wade replied when asked whether there was a particular point of reference. Van Gundy was a bit more specific when he said there were demonstrations -- many of them -- of Miami's failures to play with any force either implementing or defending pick-and-roll plays. But that's X's-and-O's stuff. The core explanation of what happened to the Heat is that the Hornets played rough, and Miami couldn't or wouldn't do anything about it. It wasn't always intentional aggression on New Orleans' part. Baron Davis, for example, accidentally opened a six-stitch cut on Lamar Odom's left eyelid when he caught him with an elbow while going up for a shot. But other tactics -- the bumping and slashing at Wade, most notably -- were purposeful. The intent was to shackle Wade, restrict his open-court movement and thereby slow the Heat as a team. It worked. Now, the Heat either has to find a way to avoid the fight... or stand up to it. And, quite frankly, Miami isn't built to brawl. Which is why things could get messy for the Heat way beyond Tuesday night if the Hornets really have found a method of making Miami hobble along at Davis' sometimes-wobbly gait. Ah, Davis. The star. It is he who has emerged as the series' centerpiece despite frequently appearing to be in need of crutches. The Hornets have zero chance of getting past Miami without Davis playing effectively but every chance of doing so if he's dictating style while playing on a sore ankle. Not all the Heat players were Sunday afternoon buyers on the topic of the severity of Davis' injury. Wade and reserve point guard Rafer Alston were two doubters, and they're the ones who most often tangle with Davis in back-court match-ups. "He limps, he limps and then he dunks," Wade said. Alston was even more skeptical. "He gets the ball and explodes to the basket," Alston said. Odom, though, simply offered his respect. "(Davis) doesn't look like a guy who can go around you or through you, but he can do both," Odom said. "He's a great, great player." And smart enough, too, to know what works best against Miami: "We want to make them shoot jumpers," Davis said in the wake of the Hornets' win Saturday afternoon. New Orleans wants to turn the series into a half-court tractor pull as often as possible, which is why the Hornets' guards girded themselves into defensive posture sooner rather than later as often as possible on Heat possessions in Game 3 trying to make the Heat grind out points. Again, though, that's X's-and-O's stuff. The Heat must try to remove itself from the comfort zone accompanying the knowledge it would win the series by doing nothing more than winning its four home games. But it's difficult not to look down and notice the safety net in the playoff's high-wire act, and even Van Gundy took care to remind his team Sunday that it should consider Game 4 more about "opportunity" than "pressure" to win on the road. "It's a very, very resilient group," Van Gundy said. "They bounce back. They always come to work. They got caught (Saturday)." If the Heat gets caught again Tuesday night, it's opportunity becomes pressure Friday night when the series moves back to South Florida for Game 5. The game-start buzzer in New Orleans Arena? It'll mean study hall has ended. It'll mean it's time for practical application of whatever lessons Miami insists it has learned. [email protected] --

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