http://www.nola.com/hornets/t-p/index.ssf?/base/sports-1/1083662957260510.xml N.O. seeks better Game 7 Heat's Wade flourishes at home; Coach Floyd making adjustments Tuesday, May 04, 2004 By John Reid Staff writer The last time the Hornets were forced into playing a Game 7 was in 2001 when they played the Milwaukee Bucks in the Eastern Conference semifinals. The Hornets lost 104-95, despite 29 points from point guard Baron Davis. New Orleans is hoping for a better result in tonight's Game 7 of their first-round series against the Miami Heat. The Hornets have never won a best-of-seven series. But the Heat hasn't won a playoff series since 2000 when it swept the Detroit Pistons in a best-of-five first-round series. "I think most Game 7s come down to the last two minutes," guard David Wesley said, "whoever can get the ball to the rim late." The Heat has won 15 consecutive games at AmericanAirlines Arena and are 5-0 overall there against the Hornets. "We just have to play to our experience and keep the game close down the stretch," Davis said. "We have yet to play our best game for 48 minutes and I'm hoping that happens." The Hornets have not advanced to the conference semifinals since 2002 when they played the New Jersey Nets and lost 4-1 in their final season in Charlotte, N.C., before relocating to New Orleans. TARGET TO STOP: Guard Dwyane Wade made two crucial shots to help the Heat win Games 1 and 5 in Miami. At AmericanAirlines Arena, Wade is averaging 18.7 points and has shot 50 percent from the field during the series. Wade had averaged 6.5 points in two games at New Orleans Arena before finishing with a game-high 27 points Sunday. COACH'S CORNER: Coach Tim Floyd said both teams generally know what each other intend to do. But the Hornets still worked to make a few minor adjustments at Monday's practice. "We went over three to four things we wanted to clean up our (defensive) coverages and three or four things we wanted to add offensively," Floyd said. INSIDE PRESENCE: The Hornets likely are to look often for scoring from center Jamaal Magloire and forward P.J. Brown tonight. Brown scored 16 points and grabbed nine rebounds and Magloire had 14 points and nine rebounds in Game 6. Forward George Lynch also could be a scoring threat after finishing with 16 points Sunday. NO ACTION TAKEN: The league did not announce Monday any action taken against Heat forward Caron Butler. After Sunday's game in New Orleans, Heat guard Eddie Jones confronted a fan who yelled, "Go home." When Jones confronted the fan, Butler stepped between them and apparently pushed the fan. EXTENDED TIME: The Hornets-Heat matchup remains the only first-round series not decided. The winner will play the top-seeded Indiana Pacers in the Eastern Conference semifinals beginning Thursday at Conseco Fieldhouse. DEFENSIVE SWITCH: Since Game 5, the Heat has switched its defensive coverages with Jones now defending Davis. Jones is 6 feet 6, Davis 6-3. In Sunday's game, Jones held Davis to 15 points. Davis didn't take a shot in the first quarter but finished with a game-high 12 assists. THEY SAID IT: "It's theatrics, I guess he's trying to show that he's got some hair on his chest. He ain't been around long enough to get me to do something crazy." -- Jones said after Sunday's game in response to Robert Traylor colliding into and then pushing him down after a blocked shot. Traylor was ejected after the play with 5:11 remaining in the fourth quarter. . . . . . . . John Reid can be reached at [email protected] or (504) 826-3405. --

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