|
|
 |
 |
|
| |
Wednesday, Apr. 19 7:30pm ET
Charlotte denies Riley his 1,000th victory | |||||
|
| ||||||
RECAP
|
BOX SCORE
|
 GAME FLOW
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) -- The Charlotte Hornets are staying home this weekend instead of flying to Philadelphia to begin the playoffs. The Hornets clinched the fourth seed in the East on Wednesday night with an 83-73 win over the Miami Heat that denied Pat Riley his 1,000th career coaching victory. "I guess you could say we beat them at their own game," said Anthony Mason, who had 14 points. "We had played better defense lately, but we knew to beat Miami we needed to put points on the board and take away the ball -- we did both." The Hornets, who were in seventh place in the Eastern Conference on March 20, won 14 of their last 16 games and seven in a row to move up to the fourth seed. It was Charlotte's 30th home win of the season against 11 losses, and coach Paul Silas said he hoped to continue that dominance in the playoffs. "Not too many teams won 30 games at home this year," he said. "Getting the home court advantage is good, but you still have to play. We've got to maintain a home court edge that we have right now." Riley, who has a 999-434 regular-season record, will have to wait until next year to join Atlanta's Lenny Wilkens as the only NBA coaches with 1,000 victories. Wilkens has 1,179. Riley, who also has an NBA record 149 playoff coaching victories, said he wasn't concerned with the milestone victory. "Ask me about it next year," he said. "I wanted to win the game the same way I want to win every game." Charlotte held the Heat to 40 percent shooting, only 12 offensive rebounds and 3-of-12 shooting on 3-pointers. "We did not attack anything we discussed," Riley said. "The ball simply did not move -- it stuck in our hands on the double team and we did not swing the ball well at all." Miami trailed 59-53 at the end of the third quarter, but Riley sat Alonzo Mourning for the entire fourth quarter. His absence allowed Charlotte to take control of the boards -- the Hornets outrebounded Miami 9-5 in the fourth quarter -- and move through the lane at ease. Mason, Eddie Jones and Brad Miller hit consecutive layups to give Charlotte a 65-55 lead, and the Heat never challenged again. Mourning, who was icing his ankle after the game, said he wasn't injured and didn't know why he was taken out of the game. "I didn't pull myself out of the game, he did," Mourning said, motioning to Riley. "Ask him why he did it." Riley said he never intended to play Mourning for the entire game. "Zo is ailing with a little bit of a minor injury," he said. "I wanted to win, but not at the expense of someone ailing. Once they got ahead by 10, I didn't want to take a chance." Jones scored 14 points for Charlotte. Eddie Robinson came off the bench to shoot 6-of-7 for 13 points, Derrick Coleman added 12 and Elden Campbell scored 11. Anthony Carter led Miami with 16 points. Jamal Mashburn had 15 and Mourning 13. Game notesMason was given the Hornets' Hustle award before the game. The award is given to the player who hustles for rebounds, steals and blocked shots. ... Tim Hardaway didn't play for the second straight game because of sprained ankle. ... Norva Cobb, a 100-year-old fan from nearby Huntersville, N.C., attended her first-ever Hornets game Wednesday night and was allowed to sit courtside during the pregame shootaround. Players from both teams stopped to chat with her, pose for pictures and autograph her Hornets basketball. | ALSO SEE NBA Scoreboard Miami Clubhouse Charlotte Clubhouse RECAPS Boston 112 New York 85
Charlotte 83
  | |||||